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SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS AND 
PLANT-HOUSES. 
The time has now arrived when those who have not already begun, will be 
making preparations for getting their tender plants into their winter quarters ; and 
as, even among practical men, much diversity of opinion exists as to what constitutes 
good practice in the management of plant-houses, we suspect a few remarks at this 
season on the subject, will not prove unacceptable to many of our amateur friends. 
As remarked of flower-garden plants at p. 159, most of the plant collections throughout 
the country require a severe weeding, whereby they would be cleared of many 
hundreds of plants which now encumber them, much to the advantage of those 
plants which might be left. Fortunately, however, all plant-lovers begin to see the 
advantage of growing selections as distinguished from collections of plants ; and the 
recognition of the principle, that good things well managed are capable of affording 
more real pleasure than great quantities of ill-managed, ugly, gawky plants, is now 
becoming pretty general. This of itself will do much good, as the more both 
gardeners and amateurs enter into the spirit of specimen-plant growing, the more 
will they see the necessity of giving house-room to such plants only as are really 
worthy of it, while the thousands of comparatively worthless plants which now 
crowd the lists of nurserymen, will be thrown to the rubbish-heap. We do not say 
that all these plants are unworthy of cultivation, as many persons of uncultivated 
taste may consider them very beautiful ; but when we know that, without either 
greater trouble or expense, better and far more beautiful things can be grown — why 
not grow them ? 
Of what earthly use can it be to grow two or three hundred varieties of Camellia 
which some of the continental nurserymen profess to sell, when we know there are 
not twenty really first-rate kinds among them ? Would it not bespeak better taste 
to grow the good kinds only, and, if a number of plants are required, duplicate with 
two or three of the best of each variety. Again, of Ericas, though in plant catalogues 
upwards of five hundred species are enumerated, and the nurserymen have almost as 
many varieties, who would think of growing that quantity for the sake of saying 
" I have every known kind," when we are aware that one hundred kinds would take 
the cream of the whole collection, and that with fifty more there would be very few 
left that a cultivator would care about giving pot-room to. If, however, selection is 
so much required among hard-wooded plants, still more is it needed among soft- 
wooded ones, such as Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Calceolarias, Cinerarias, and the like. 
The varieties of these plants are almost innumerable, and, except to those who are 
always among them, almost indistinguishable. 
Let us however hope the time is coming, when the importance of growing good 
plants only will be generally acted upon, and then we have no doubt the importance 
of growing specimens, as distinguished from the poor miserable wretches we too 
