THE PINK. 
253 
straw, not to shut out the light, but sufficient 
to keep off the sun and wind for a day or two. 
They will soon establish themselves. The 
object in soaking them is this: — If the balls of 
earth, as they are turned out of the pots, are 
placed in the bed dry, it will be difficult to 
wet them all through by merely watering them 
in, because they are so much more compact 
than the bed ; and if properly established in 
the pots the roots will be completely matted. 
Next to soaking the balls is watering the pots 
well before they are turned out ; but this is 
not so well as soaking, because when they are 
watered in the pots they do not turn out so 
clean, whereas if they are soaked afterwards, 
and put in their places carefully, they set off 
growing directly, and frequently bloom equal 
to autumn planted pinks. In two or three 
days after they have been put out, the litter 
may be removed, and be only replaced when 
there is a prospect of a frost, the last thing at 
night, to be taken off in the morning. In a 
week or two they will be fully established, and 
will require no more protection. 
TREATMENT UP TO BLOOMING, 
The bed must be occasionally refreshed with 
water if there be no rain, and the ground be- 
comes dry ; but none should be given while 
the earth is moist, which will often be the 
case when the surface is very dry, and this 
may be ascertained by stirring the earth a 
little an inch or two down. Those which have 
been planted in autumn should have a top 
dressing of well rotted cow-dung ; and before 
this is laid on, the soil should be stirred with 
a hoe, and the lumps bruised. The cow-dung, 
or if it cannot be obtained, the decomposed 
dung of a common hot-bed, should be run 
through a coarse sieve, and laid on an inch 
thick all over the bed, and well round the 
plants, so that when watered, or in the event 
of rain, it may get washed in among the roots, 
and encourage the growth. 
BLOOMING. 
When the plants throw up their flowering 
spikes, the strongest of each plant should be 
saved, and all the others taken away : only 
one spike should be left to the strongest plants, 
and as these develope their buds, they should be 
reduced to two or three at the most. As these 
swell and approach the timeof bursting, eachbud 
should be tied in the middle with a piece of bass 
matting, or coarse worsted ; and as soon as they 
are ready to burst, the calyx should be carefully 
torn down to the tie, at all the divisions, that the 
petals may be developed on all sides alike. At 
this period cards should be placed on the calyx, 
to lay the petals down upon as they come out : 
the mode of fastening the card is simple enough, 
but it requires attention ; for instance, there 
should be a circle drawn in the middle, about 
as large as the pod of the bloom, and with a 
sharp knife there should be cuts made across 
the circle four times at equal distances, the 
second cut exactly crossing the first, and the 
third and fourth cuts being made exactly half 
way between them, as represented : this being 
done, the circle should be opened 
by thrusting the point of a pencil, 
or round piece of wood through 
it, and pressing the points out to 
the extent of the circle. The 
card is then cut through, to 
allow the stem to pass, and it is to be placed 
on the bud, with the points downwards, and 
brought up the bud so as to form an under 
support to the lower or guard petals. By 
placing a stick in the ground with a wire 
stuck in it, and bent at the top into a sort of 
ring like the annexed sketch, the card may be 
held up in its place ; the wire is bent thus, and 
the end of it is pointed, and thrust into the 
stick; but there is a description of soft copper 
wire, which does not require more than to be 
bent round the stick, and can be moved up and 
down it, or bent a little up or down, so as to 
hold up the card. The sticks and wires may 
be thus explained ; — the wire keeps the card 
from slipping down, even if it has a disposition 
to do so ; the card, however, when the points 
are cut properly* and the hole made of a 
right size, will almost hold itself up ; but this 
contrivance supports the bloom stalks, and 
keeps every thing steady in its place. The 
flowers must now be shaded, and frequently re- 
freshed with water. The bestshade is an ordinary 
small hand-glass,^. 1, held up by a short stake, 
Jig. 2, up and down which the glass moves, by 
means of a socket, through which the -Stake 
