FORCING FOR THEIR FLOWERS. 
275 
in nothing but peat and loam, thwarting every attempt to blossom, and potting them early 
in September with good balls in a richer compost than that they have just been taken from. 
Such plants as Cinerarias, Callas, &c., which grow herbaceously, should be planted out 
in rough peat, a good distance asunder, on the north border of the reserve-garden, the last 
week in May. They must be encouraged well with liquid manure occasionally, prevented 
flowering at all, taken up with good balls, divided, and the strongest plants potted singly, 
the weaker ones several in a pot, in September, in a substantial rich compost of loam, peat, 
leaf-mould and sand, with plenty of open drainage, and plunged with other things in the 
cold reserve-pit until wanted for forcing, or, what is better, placing them in their flowering 
situations without being forced at all beyond in the atmosphere of the greenhouse or con- 
servatory. 
Various herbaceous perennials, as has been before observed, succeed very well, if 
lifted from the open ground with good balls, potted and placed at once in heat. They must 
not be permitted to flower, however, the season previous, and will make better plants if 
taken up and potted in September, having their flower stems thinned out to half-a-dozen or 
so, when they commence to grow : and such fragrant kinds as Lily of the Valley, the Sweet- 
scented Colt’s-foot, &c., should not only have their flowering prevented and foliage thinned 
out, but should receive abundant liquid manure-waterings also, in showery weather, to 
invigorate the roots throughout the season antecedent to their being in requisition. 
Finally, the beauty and utility of Primula sinensis, the fringe kinds especially, are well 
known, and the plants being universal favourites, they are indispensable for winter decora- 
tion. Although the Chinese Primrose will last two seasons (if division of the root-collar, 
and recultivation after having flowered one season, is resorted to), they best succeed when 
treated as a frame or greenhouse annual. Let them be thinly sown in March, in rather 
sandy soil, on a slight bottom heat, and when two or three rough leaves are developed, pot 
them singly in small pots and light rich soil, and grow them on a north aspect in a cool pit 
or frame, free ventilation being afforded night and day. They require a dry rich compost, 
containing plenty of decomposed cowdung and a little sharp sand, and in hot weather 
delight in moisture, though not an excess of it. In June, either shift them into their 
flowering pots at once, or turn them out on a shady border in the reserve department into 
a good, though rather stiff compost, that they may “ lift ” the better, and grow steadier. In 
either case, secure drainage and a rougher compost must be employed in their final 
re-potting, and this performed, they should be plunged, wide asunder, in coal ashes, in 
a free, airy exposure, and neither over watered, nor allowed to become at all dry ; a medium 
condition being maintained, or they will either become too luxuriant to bloom at all, or 
have their flowering period premature ; both of which extremes must be guarded against. 
Here they may remain until October, when they should be introduced into any appropriate 
situation in which they are wanted to bloom, but they must not experience a higher tempe- 
rature than that of the greenhouse, conservatory, or sitting-room, for which latter situation 
(inasmuch as they delight in partial shade) the Chinese Primrose is admirably adapted. 
The Chrysanthemum, too, although scarcely to be reckoned a plant for “ forcing,” is one 
of our most attractive genera for making gay the flower-garden and conservatory, at a time 
when the brighter hues of summer have vanished beneath the chilly breath of autumn. In 
a general way, this useful autumn plant is propagated as early as cuttings or suckers can 
be obtained from the old plants, and grown in large pots, kept plunged throughout the 
summer in the reserve-garden : but the neatest and prettiest specimens are to be got by 
turning out the old plants in April in rich soil, and thinning out the shoots to three or four 
upon each plant. They should be made to recline upon the ground when planted, so that 
the principal stems, when grown to about the length of eighteen inches, and have formed 
flowers, may be layered. The layers will soon root and become very dwarf, compact plants, 
full of flower buds by the middle of October, when they must be taken up with good balls, 
and potted in rich soil, and placed in a cold pit for a week or two, when they may be 
removed at once to their blooming situations. 
The two main points to be attended to in their cultivation are to obtain strong, bushy 
plants (by supplying food in the liquid rather than in the solid form, and pinching back the 
