40 
STOVE AND ORCHIDEOUS HOUSE. 
require more watering than even the esta- 
blished plants. They should be planted in the 
shade. They may be carefully repotted when 
their growth is made complete, and the wood 
ripened. They will require pots one size 
larger, to make room for their new roots; and 
the plants will have grown in proportion to 
the roots, so that they will be just as well pro- 
portioned to their new pots as to their old 
ones. While the plants are making their 
growth in the open ground, see that there are 
no more branches than are wanted for the 
beauty of the plant ; and if there be, take them 
off, to throw the strength into the stems ; and 
if any branch or branches appear to be taking 
the lead too much, cut them back, or the 
growth would check the rest of the shrub 
altogether, and the whole vigour of the plant 
run into the one branch or branches only. 
In raking and making the beds tidy, and 
removing all the falling petals, many labels 
would be removed, and perhaps, among igno- 
rant labourers, get put to the wrong trees, 
shrubs, and plants. See, now the plants are 
in full vigour and character, to all the labels, 
and adjust any that are not right. Make new 
ones for any that are lost, and the same with 
regard to all the flowers and plants under tally 
or number. 
THE STOVE. 
The necessity of moistening the floors and 
pipes to create a wholesome steam every even- 
ing, forces itself upon us almost before any 
other duty ; syringing all over the foliage is 
good ; abundant watering is required, too, 
during the hot drying weather, and any plants 
you have in bloom must be shaded during the 
heat of the sun, though it must be with thin 
light material that will not darken the house. 
Propagating by cuttings, under bell-glasses, 
in pots, that will allow of the edge being 
pressed into the soil inside of the pot. The 
preparation of cuttings of almost every pro- 
duction in the house is the same. Cut them up 
to the under part of a leaf which is a joint ; 
cut off, without bruising the bark, the leaves 
at the bottom, to make it the more convenient 
for planting ; wipe the glass out daily, and 
let the pot be plunged into the tan to get a 
little bottom heat. Any small plants, or, in- 
deed, any plants that have filled their pots 
with roots, had better be shifted into other 
pots a size larger ; and specimen plants, that 
you are anxious to grow fast, may have fresh 
pots as soon as the fibres of the roots reach 
the sides ; and in such plants as are being 
thus grown, all bloom should be taken off as 
fast as it shows. Specimens of green-house 
plants intended to be grown fast are frequently 
carried to the stove, as Geraniums intended 
for propngation, Camellias intended for second 
growth, and many soft-wooded plants, which 
it is desirable to grow into stuff, as it is called. 
These should be placed at the coolest part of 
the stove, and be shifted from one sized pot 
to another as they grow, and when they have 
been grown as much as you require, they must 
be ripened very gradually in, first, a closed 
green-house, then with plenty of air, and, 
lastly, in a cold pit. Camellias are much more 
readily inarched and grafted in the stove than 
in the green-house ; the stocks are removed 
to a cool part of the stove, and as soon as they 
begin to grow, the branch of the plant in- 
tended to be inarched is brought into contact 
with the stock by adjusting the height of the 
pots, then the operation of inarching is per- 
formed, bj' cutting or shaving away pretty nearly 
one-half the branch of the plant, and then 
cutting the stock, as near as possible down to 
the pot in the same way, nearly half through; 
then the two flat places are adjusted so as 
to fit ; then cut a sort of tongue, in one 
upwards, and the other downwards, so that 
they will tuck into one another, when it is 
bound fast, and the two allowed to grow toge- 
ther till they have united, when the branch 
grown to the stock is to be separated from the 
parent plant, and all the stock that is growing 
is cut away. The uniting of the graft and the 
stock in the stove will not take more than 
six weeks, if the join be well made ; generally 
speaking, the stove has not much to do but 
aid in propagation this month. 
THE ORCHIDEOUS HOUSE. 
Moisture, by constant syringing, and heat, 
and some air, are the condition required now 
for the plants coming into flower, but those 
which are in bloom must be kept much more 
cool, and even these must have moisture and 
shade. When a bloom is once in perfection, 
it will keep a considerable time longer in a 
moist than a dry air, and in a cool than a 
heated atmosphere. Some, indeed, will stand 
many days in a cool drawing-room, free from 
draughts of air or wind. The Oncidiums 
especially last a long time. Perhaps of all 
the families of orchideous plants, the Stan- 
hopeas stand the worst. The plants which 
are growing must have plenty of moisture 
and heat, and it will be easily seen when their 
growth is completed, and then it is proper to 
let them rest — that is to say, lessen the water, 
and even the heat ; in fact, they may be 
placed in a cooler part of the house, and be 
no longer syringed for some weeks, at least. 
The plants must be frequently examined, for 
red spider and bug ; the mealy bug especially 
is a great enemy to orchideous plants, and if 
they insinuate themselves among the bloom- 
buds, will destroy the flower altogether. 
Washing with soap and water and a brush 
