205 
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PLANTS AND 
PLANT-HOUSES. 
The time lias now arrived when those who have not already begun, will be 
iking preparations for getting their tender plants into their winter quarters ; and 
, even among practical men, much diversity of opinion exists as to what constitutes 
od practice in the management of plant-houses, we suspect a few remarks at this 
ason on the subject, will not prove unacceptable to many of our amateur friends, 
j remarked of flower-garden plants at p. 159, most of the plant collections throughout 
e country require a severe weeding, whereby they would be cleared of many 
mdreds of plants which now encumber them, much to the advantage of those 
ants which might be left. Fortunately, however, all plant-lovers begin to see the 
..vantage of growing selections as distinguished from collections of plants ; and the 
cognition of the principle, that good things well managed are capable of affording 
ore real pleasure than great quantities of ill-managed, ugly, gawky plants, is now 
jcoming pretty general. This of itself will do much good, as the more both 
krdeners and amateurs enter into the spirit of specimen-plant growing, the more 
ill they see the necessity of giving house-room to such plants only as are really 
orthy of it, while the thousands of comparatively worthless plants which now 
owd the lists of nurserymen, will be thrown to the rubbish-heap. We do not say 
tat all these plants are unworthy of cultivation, as many persons of uncultivated 
,ste may consider them very beautiful ; hut when we know that, without either 
neater trouble or expense, better and far more beautiful things can be grown — why 
it grow them? 
; Of what earthly use can it be to grow two or three hundred varieties of Camellia 
hich some of the continental nurserymen profess to sell, when we know there are 
pt twenty really first-rate kinds among them ? Would it not bespeak better taste 
) grow the good kinds only, and, if a number of plants are required, duplicate with 
wo or three of the best of each variety. Again, of Ericas, though in plant catalogues 
pwardsof five hundred species are enumerated, and the nurserymen have almost as 
lany 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 
he cream of the whole collection, and that with fifty more there would be very few 
iff that a cultivator would care about giving pot-room to. If, however, selection is 
o much required among hard- wooded plants, still more is it needed among soft- 
vooded ones, such as Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Calceolarias, Cinerarias, and the like, 
-he varieties of these plants are almost innumerable, and, except to those who are 
lways among them, almost indistinguishable. 
Let us however hope the time is coming, when the importance of growing good 
)lants only will be generally acted upon, and then we have no doubt the importance 
>f growing specimens, as distinguished from the poor miserable wretches we too 
