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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 
Town C0NSERVATOE.T — F. R . — There is one most important consideration which 
should, we think, determine conclusively whether a steep or a low roof should 
be adopted. If built nearly flat, cats will run up and down the glass as easily as 
on a gravel walk, and now and then one will jump on the roof and go through, 
and immediately commence frantically leaping up and smashing the glass to 
get out again. For this reason, which could only occur to one who has paid for 
experience, the roof of every plant-house in a town garden should be pitched at a 
sharp angle. 
Japanese Chrtsanthemums. — TF. J. R. — As you require them for home 
decoration, the culture is exceedingly simple. Strike the cuttings soon in a 
little warmth, either singly or several in each pot, in much the same manner as you 
would verbenas, or other soft-wooded stuff. .After they are rooted, pot off singly 
into small pots, and stop when established. Immediately the roots begin to rnn 
in the new soil, remove to a cold frame, and gradually increase the air until the 
lights can be taken off altogether. A good time lor the first stopping would he 
a week after the plants have been shifted into the cold frame. When the pots 
are nicely filled with roots, but before the plants become pot-bound, shift into 
five-inch pots, stop again when established, and, as soon as they are growing 
freely, shift into nine-inch pots. This will be the last shift required j and, to 
save trouble in watering, plunge the pots in cocoa-nut fibre refuse, or partly 
decayed leaf-mould or coal-ashes. Stand each pot on a piece of slate or brick to 
prevent tbe worms getting into it. Tie out the shoots as the3' require it, to pre- 
vent their getting broken. A simpler way still would be to transfer three plants 
from the sixties into the nine-inch pots, and stop about twice during the season. 
Let all the stopping be done when the shoots are soft and growing freely, as thej- 
break badly if left until they become hard. Thin out the buds, and leave one to 
each growing point. You might have a fine display bj' merely potting as we 
have directed, and tying the plant to a stout stake. In the autumn each plant 
will produce eight or ten trusses of flower-buds, which should be thinned down to 
one bud each. It is essential that the plants are far enough apart during the sum- 
mer, or thej’ will he drawn up, and lose the lower part of the foliage. Good turfy 
loam, with a liberal addition of decayed manure, is the best compost for growing 
them in. They must not, at any period of their growth, be allowed to suffer lor 
want of water ; give them weak manure-water when the pots of the last shift are 
full of roots. Remove to the conservatory as soon as the buds begin to show colour, 
and ventilate freely. No stopping must be done after the middle of Julj-. 
"WiREWORMS IN Pots. — Lady Subscriber. — Tobacco-water in limited quantities 
is not injurious to the roots of most plants, but it is by no means desirable to 
water them with it. Lime-water will readily remove the ordinary worm^ from 
pots ; but to kill wireworms you must use salt, or some chemical stuff equally 
powerful, which would have a like effect upon the plants. If there really are 
wireworms amongst the soil in which yoiur plants are growing, the most effectual 
way will be to turn the plants out of the pots, and search for the worms. If you 
are troubled with the ordinary earth-worm only, water with lime-water. The 
strength is of no particular consequence, so long as the water is perfectly clear 
when used. Lime-water is made by simply putting a peck or so of lime in a vessel 
holding several gallons of water, and then filling it up with water, and allowing it 
to stand a day or so before it is used. 
Summer Pruning op Grape Vines. — Fitis. — If the vines are strong and 
well ripened, your best plan will be to disbud a few of the side-shoots when about 
two inches in length, if the eyes are too close together. Leave them about a foot 
apart on each side of the vine. The side-shoots should be stopped wLen they are 
about eighteen inches long, and the first crop of laterals which break from the 
points of these stopped at the first joint, and kept to that. If these are kept regu- 
larly stopped, they will materially strengthen the main rod. If you think the 
vines are strong enough to bear, let them carry three or four bunches, and stop at 
one joint beyond the bunch. It is these shoots or branches that must be pruned 
to two eyes in tbe winter. Prune and top-dress at once ; both operations can be 
done at the same time. The roots should not be disturbed too much unless they 
are in bad order. 
