Ill 
CULTURE OF THE POLYANTHUS. 
both hands, and drop it in its place; fill up 
with dry sifted compost, that it may go down 
all round, and fill up the vacancy between the 
ball and the pot ; this done, let the pot stand 
in water up to the brim, till the new and its 
own compost are completely soaked, when it 
may stand in the shade until it has drained 
well again ; and the plant will not flag at all 
for the whole period it is wanted for exhibition 
If you determine to grow them in pots, pre- 
pare your compost as before directed, get your 
pots of the size thirty-two, and fill one-third 
with crocks, put some compost on them, and 
raise the plants from the ground without 
breaking the fibres, but do not wet the ground, 
as in the case of moving them in bloom ; let 
the fibres be rather spread on the compost, 
which must be heaped up like a cone inside 
the pot, until it is a right height to keep the 
plant in its proper station, and add enough 
on and among the roots to fill the pot up well, 
the collar of the plant, which is the under part 
of the lower leaves, being even with the top 
surface, and, considering that it sinks a trifle, 
this should be even with the top edge of the 
pot ; by knocking the bottom of the pot gently 
on the potting table or bench two or three 
times, the compost will be settled well about 
the roots, and they are ready for placing in 
the frame, when they should be liberally 
watered through a fine rose, so as not to dis- 
turb the surface of the soil; and great care 
should be taken that this watering is effectual, 
that is, that it wets every part of the compost 
all through the pot ; more plants have been 
ruined by scanty waterings than by all other 
sorts of mismanagement combined ; slight 
watering only moistens the surface and an 
inch or so below it, and this does more harm 
than good, the fibres lower down get no 
nourishment, the plant only gets a limited 
nourishment from the upper roots, and, with- 
out actually flagging, it dwindles, or rather, 
does not advance, and people wonder why. 
In stoves, green-houses, or pits, slight water- 
ing is ruinous. "When plants are said not to 
require much water, it should be understood 
as meaning seldom watering ; but watering, 
if given at all, should moisten every grain of 
soil that the plant grows in, and even drain 
away, and it should not be watered at all until 
it wants moisture. Rain-water is always the 
best ; river-water next ; spring-water ought 
to be long exposed to the air before it is used, 
for it is never desirable ; it is always more 
cold, and mostly deficient of those properties 
which exposure to the air can alone give. Once 
conveyed to the frames, we leave them to the 
management recommended for wintering the 
plants in the first instance. 
We now come to the raising of plants from 
seed; and this, although simple enough with 
attention, is rarely undertaken with the care 
it deserves ; chiefly because the seed is plen- 
tiful, the raisers are sure to have plenty, how- 
ever careless they are, and they never once 
calculate that those lost, however few they 
may be, are more likely to be good than those 
which brave the bad management. But, in 
all probability, the fact of saving but one pod 
of seed where they might save half-a-dozesr or 
more, may induce more painstaking in the 
raising of seedlings ; and the fact of every 
seed being saved from the best pip may en- 
hance the value in the eyes of the owners. 
It has been customary for the old florists, and 
some of the modern ones, to sow annually seed 
in autumn. We have done this ; but we are 
quite certain that the loss of some by this plan 
is inevitable. It is true, that it sometimes lies 
in the ground a considerable period, and the 
autumn-sown frequently does not vegetate till 
the spring. We prefer sowing in boxes, or 
large-mouthed pots, very thinly, in March, till 
which time we keep the seeds from the air, 
and if possible in their pods, as they preserve 
better. Having sown them very thinly in 
sifted compost, we sift a thin coat of compost 
over them, sufficient to cover them completely, 
but no more. From the time they are sown, 
we keep them moist, but not wet; cool, but 
not frosted ; in a cold frame in which Camel- 
lias and Azalea indica are kept, or in a green- 
house, where there are plants which cannot 
stand frost, or even out of doors, if there be 
hand-glasses and occasional litter to keep off 
frost and harsh winds, the seed will germinate 
freely ; and the same treatment will do until 
the plants have three or four rough leaves, 
when they should be pricked out, an inch 
apart, in good large pots, which may then be 
placed in a frame, for the convenience of 
shading from the hot sun and keeping off 
heavy rains, which would disturb the plants ; 
here they may grow till they are touching one 
another, when a bed may be made up for them 
in the open ground, and they may be planted 
out, six inches apart, all over it. They will 
be large enough to require no other care than 
watering occasionally till the autumn, when 
they must be subjected to the frame treatment 
in pots, or the out-of-door management, with 
temporary covering, by means of litter, as in 
the case of old plants. When they bloom, you 
must judge of their qualities by the ordinary 
rules laid down and acted upon by florists, 
throwing aside all that are worse than those 
they were raised from, and preserving the few, 
for there may be very few indeed, that are as 
good or better. These must be treated like 
the established varieties we have already 
referred to. There is, however, one subject 
upon which a good deal might be said, although 
it does not affect all places or persons. The 
