THE GREEN-HOUSE. 
this neatness and order will involve the daily 
sweeping the pathways, (which should be of 
stone), the greatest care should be taken not 
to create a dust, to fall on the leaves of the 
plants ; not only does this detract from the 
cheerfulness of their appearance, but it is 
decidedly injurious to them, and whenever dirt 
or filth does accumulate, it ought to be removed 
forthwith either by the sponge or syringe. Every 
morning all the plants should be gently shaken, 
to dislodge any leaves that would fall. during 
the day, and these must then be neatly raked 
off the surface of the border, previously to 
sweeping the paths. All flowers, as they pass 
their prime, must be removed for the same 
purpose, namely, to avoid by every means a 
littery appearance. This point of order is 
essential during the whole year. 
THE GREEN-HOUSE. 
It is very generally the case, that the 
green-house is made to contain a perfectly mis- 
cellaneous assemblage of plants. All plants, 
whatever their nature may be, which require 
a temperate climate, are congregated together 
in a structure known by this name. Now, 
whatever degree of success may have been at- 
tained under this arrangement, those who 
have paid little attention to the subject will 
scarcely credit the superiority of thepractice of 
dividing green-house plants into a few natural 
groups, into which they may be easily classed, 
and cultivating each of these groups in a sepa- 
rate structure. Or, if this arrangement is not 
approved, there is another, scarcely less com- 
mendable, that of cultivating a few showy 
classes of plants, selected so as to keep up 
a succession of bloom through the greater 
part of the season, while successional groups 
are being cultivated in pits and frames, 
to take in due time their place as they each 
in their turn approach a blooming state. The 
difference in the appearance of a green-house 
managed according to either of these methods, 
and that of one in which the old miscellaneous 
character is maintained, is striking indeed : in 
the latter case, from the very fact of the mis- 
cellaneous nature of the plants, no system of 
culture can be followed up which is fully cal- 
culated to develop the beauties of any par- 
ticular class of plants, without risking the 
deterioration of others, by a course of manage- 
ment unsuited to them; and therefore a much 
lower standard of beauty only is attained : in 
either of the former cases, the management 
may be concentrated upon one particular class 
or group of plants, and from the very fact that 
they are thus made to receive a course of treat- 
ment in exact accordance with their require- 
ments, they will be found to display beauties, 
which those to whom such a course may be 
a novelty, will be but little prepared to expect. 
It will be urged that such a division of green- 
house plants into groups, will render the erec- 
tion of numerous structures a matter of neces- 
sity ; and thus the means of carrying out such 
a principle will be placed beyond the means of the 
amateur of but limited resources. Though this 
objection to a certain extent holds good, it is by 
no means so great as might at first be expected ; 
— for instance, an ordinary sized green-house 
could be easily divided into compartments, at 
but trifling expense ; or many, if not all the 
plants might be grown in well-constructed 
pits, properly heated, which are very eco- 
nomical in their erection. The amateur, who 
but little understands the principles of culti- 
vating plants, cannot be too strongly impressed 
with the fact, that for all purposes of growing 
plants thoroughly well, pits such as those 
now referred to, or very small low houses, 
constructed very similarly to pits, afford the 
ire plus ultra, beyond which there is nothing 
left to desire. In the course of these instruc- 
tions it is intended to give an occasional 
diagram, showing the kind of structure best 
adapted for the particular purpose to which 
it may be referred. To enable those who may 
see the propriety of cultivating several of the 
groups apart from each other to carry their 
views into practice, we shall on all occasions 
notice the most striking of these groups sepa- 
rately : this arrangement will be in no way in- 
convenient for those who do not adopt such a 
division, inasmuch as the directions which are 
given will apply as much to the plants when 
grown together in one house, as when sepa- 
rated into distinct groups. The groups which 
we especially think it desirable to treat of 
separately, will be the Heaths, the Camellias, 
and the Geraniums ; and even with these 
divisions it will be necessary to regard another 
division as purely miscellaneous, composed of 
plants which do not strictly associate with any 
of the preceding. The annexed sketch repre- 
sents a pit which is well adapted for the cul- 
ture of green-house plants ; and would also 
