THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
264 
lished, tbe point of the shoots should be pinched out, and they will 
require to be stopped occasionally as they progress in growth, if a 
bushy habit is to be secured ; but this is of no importance in the 
case of small plants, as if allowed to grow in the iorm of a single 
shoot this can be coiled round stakes, which, with stopping, will 
cause the production of numerous shoots. Young plants should 
not be kept growing too late in autumn, for, unless they are afforded 
a period of rest, in order to thoroughly mature the wood, they will 
not break so freely the following spring. As soon as the object is 
to ripen the wood, the plants should be placed near the glass in a 
rather dry atmosphere, where they will be exposed to light and air 
on favourable occasions, and where they may remain for the winter, 
giving very little water to the soil. Except an occasional wipe, to 
clear the foliage of dust, the syringe should not be used ; and at 
this season the temperature should not fall below 50°, nor rise above 
G0° without a circulation of air. Towards the middle or end of 
January the plants should be placed in a growing temperature, such 
as directed above, giving sufficient water to the soil to thoroughly 
moisten it, and repotting them as soon as the roots make a start. 
But before inducing growth, the shoots should be stopped and 
brought down, to cause them to break freely and assume a bushy 
habit. If well attended to, affording them a moist warm tempera- 
ture, with a moderate bottom-heat, nice little specimens may be 
obtained by the end of the second season, and they will grow more 
freely if the flowers are picked off as they make their appearance, 
for these will be produced from the axil of almost every leaf on the 
young wood. Attend to stopping and training as may be necessary 
during the growing season, giving a second shift if requisite, and 
winter them as already directed. Plants for flowering will require 
exactly similar treatment to that recommended for growing them ; 
and if they are placed in bottom-heat early in spring, and otherwise 
properly cared for, they will be in flower in May ; and if kept in 
bottom-heat, etc., will go on growing and flowering till late in 
autumn. Or if desirable to remove them to a cooler place, this may 
be done, and the blossoms will last long in a cool dry atmosphere, 
but others will not be produced to succeed them, as is the case when 
the plant is retained in heat. See to getting the wood well ripened 
annually before winter, and cut back and trim the specimens as may 
be necessary before inducing growth in spring, and immense bushes 
will be obtained in the course of a few years. As this Cyrtoceras 
is impatient of any excess of moisture at the root, a hard fibrous 
peat should be used, such as water will pass through freely ; this 
should be broken up into small lumpy pieces, rejecting the fine, and 
mixed with about one-third its bulk of charcoal, broken small, and 
a moderate quantity of sharp white sand. In potting, avoid large 
shifts, and secure efficient drainage by using plenty of potsherds, 
and covering them with some fibrv pieces of soil. 
