96 
OPERATIONS FOR MAY. 
be deferred a considerable time in consequence, and the culturist lose much of the 
beauty that might be attained. 
No flowering plant should be permitted to mature its seeds unless these are 
required for subsequent use. By cutting off all the flower-stems as soon as the 
blossoms wither, the disfigurement which would result from their being suffered to 
remain is avoided ; there is no unnecessary expenditure of the plant's juices, and 
consequent debilitation of the remaining flowers ; and, with many species, a suc- 
cession of blossoms is by this means preserved for a much longer period. Both 
annuals and perennials are included in this suggestion. 
Plants in houses are now in the height of their developments, and require 
stimulating accordingly. They should be daily syringed, except in those evenings 
when slight frosts are expected, and largely supplied with water at the roots, but 
never through the rose of a watering-pot, as the surface is sometimes wetted by this 
system without actually, or not more than temporarily, refreshing the plant. 
Orchidacew and some stove plants will need constantly shading during the day ; 
whereas, all Cactacew^ and exotics of a succulent character, cannot be too much open 
to the light. I 
Greenhouse plants of every kind should stand as perfectly isolated as possible, 
admitting to them a large amount of air, so as to obtain a perpetually renewed 
supply of it for their subsistence. Most Heath growers are familiar with the 
practice of often pinching off, between the thumb and finger nails, the tops of those 
young and weakly shoots borne by the more bushy species. This prevents them 
from straggling, or exhibiting bare stems, and forces a new and more abundant 
protrusion of branches, by which the specimen is rendered far dwarfer and more 
compact. We can see no objection to the extension of the system to other small- 
wooded plants ; and believe that many of the slender species which would be very 
ornamental were it not for their lank diffuse habits, would derive all the wished-for 
advantage from a judicious stoppage of their shoots in the growing season. 
Climbing plants that are trained to small trellises, and which are intended to 
occupy only a very limited space, may be aptly subjected to the same treatment. 
A few prudent removals of the extreme points of the principal and most luxuriant 
shoots, will cause an immediate and profuse development of buds from their lower 
portions, thereby filling up all the vacancies that, in the less branching species, 
would otherwise be left. The most signal benefit of this proceeding would be that 
from three to six times the number of flowering branches would be formed ; and 
these would both bloom sooner, and bear a larger proportion of finer flowers, than 
could be at all expected from the leading shoots, if suffered to continue their growth 
without interruption. 
