169 
CULTURE OF TREVIRANA COCCINEA. 
1. When thd plants have done blooming, he sparing in the supply of water, 
continuing to gradually lessen the quantity ; so that in a month, or six weeks at 
most they may he kept perfectly dry. 
2. The pots must then be placed in a dry and cool part of a green-house or back 
shed, where they will be quite free from frost, where they should remain until 
the following March. 
3. In March cut off the tops, and turn out each pot of roots ; and with a sharp 
knife carefully divide each ball of roots into four, or at most six parts, being careful 
not to shake off the soil or disorder the roots, in the operation ; for that will 
prevent them for the most part from flowering so strong, and, in some cases, from 
flowering at all. 
4. The soil most suitable is composed of light rich loam and leaf mould, equal 
parts, one fourth of peat, and a small portion of sharp sand. 
5. The most proper sized pots are forty-eights, for the first potting ; and the size 
must be increased every time they require potting, until they are finally placed in 
twenty-fours ; in which they will flower. 
6. Lay at least an inch of broken potsherds at the bottom of the pots, and plant 
the roots so that they will be covered about half an inch deep in the soil. 
7. When potted place them in a hot-bed frame, which is not in a powerful heat. 
8. When the plants have grown two inches high, remove them into a vinery or 
other convenient place, where they will receive more heat, and give them a regular 
supply of water. 
It is a custom with some gardeners, when the shoots have grown too inches high, 
to cut them off below the surface of the soil, with as much root as possible, and 
plant them in small pots. 
Others again, in February or March, instead of dividing the roots, as we have 
recommended, with a knife, separate them from each other, and plant each singly in 
a small pot. 
Either of these systems answers exceedingly well, providing they be gently forced 
afterwards. 
