100 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f August 2, 1888. 
different modes of treatment according to the circumstances and tastes 
of two different classes of amateurs. The first having reference to those 
who have a forcing-bed, or pit, or plant-stove, or a forcing-house—say a 
vinery or a Peach-house at work, or can make one end of their green¬ 
house closer and warmer for a time than the rest of it; and the second, 
applying more to those who have merely a miniature greenhouse, the 
temperature and atmospheric condition of which can hardly be other¬ 
wise than uniform all over, and perhaps a small turf pit to assist in 
keeping that greenhouse gay and in good order. Taste may also some- 
what determine the matter ; as in the first case it will he possible to 
have long shoots from 12 inches to 30 inches in length covered with 
bloom from end to end, and in the others to have dense bushes covered 
with bloom, but chiefly from shoots a few inches long. Our mode of 
pruning them will constitute the basis for our general management. 
Now, as to the first supposed conditions. We will conclude that the 
plants have finished blooming, and are m 4 or C-inch pots, as they were 
obtained in autumn or spring from the nursery. Each plant therefore 
would have most likely a number of shoots ; and the quickest and best 
way to get rid of all the decayed blossoms and incipient seed-vessels is 
to prune back all these shoots within 2 or 3 inches of their base. To 
make something of a symmetrical plant on this system the centre shoot 
or shoots might be left 9 inches long or more, another ring half as long, 
and the next cut in to an inch or so. This plan will give the plant 
something of a pj'iamidal appearance afterwards ; and when once thus 
established each set of shoots may be cut back every year when done 
blooming, much as you would cut a Willow stool, leaving only a bud or 
two to each shoot. When plants are very young and in small pots it is 
as well not to cut back too close ; and when the plants get old it is also 
injudicious to cut back into older wood than that made the previous 
summer. On this plan, therefore, either a Willow stool or a Vine on the 
spur-pruning system will furnish examples as to pruning the Epacris ; 
only keeping in mind that it is on the wood springing from such spurs, 
longer or shorter, and well ripened before winter, that the bloom-buds 
are to appear and open the following spring. 
When the plants are thus pruned the plants like a little rest. Allow 
them therefore to remain in an airy, shady part of the greenhouse for a 
week or so, and give but little water, as the evaporating snrface will be 
mostly removed. A slight dewing from a syringe frequently over the 
top of the plant will be more serviceable than deluging at the roots. 
Hardy as the plants are, I have known them depart in dudgeon when 
under such circumstances the soil was waterlogged from too heavy and 
often repeated applications from the water-can. 
The next thing, if possible, is to remove the plants to a forcing-pit 
or house—say to a temperature of 60® to 65 n in May and June, or earlier 
if wanted early, and to give them a rather close, moist atmosphere. 
After this the soil must not get dry, but neither must it be saturated. 
The gentle sprinklings of the top frequently from the syringe will cause 
the young shoots to push vigorously from what was left of last season’s 
growth ; and if these are more numerous than can find room for 
growing, it is advisable to thin them a little when from 1 to 2 inches in 
length. When a little more than the last length is the best time for 
potting, if the plants require it. At any rate the drainage should be 
examined and fresh surfacings be given to the pot. At first we would 
recommend rather small shiftings—that is to say, after the fibres on the 
outside of the ball have been gently disentangled, and a little of the lower 
drainage removed, from half an inch to an inch space all round will be 
quite sufficient. We are now saying nothingabout the large-shift system, 
as on the whole that requires extra attention, especially in watering. 
The soil required should be mostly good heath soil, rather rough for 
the size of the shift, with a portion of silver sand and some little pieces 
of charcoal and broken pots to keep the soil a little open and allow the 
water free access to the drainage, w'hicli must be extra well attended to. 
I have supposed that no plant is repotted in which care has not been 
taken previously to see that the ball was moist to the very centre; as 
otherwise, in repeated waterings the moisture would be apt to escape by 
the sides of the pot, and leave the mass of roots in the centre as dry as a 
well-burnt brick—one fruitful cause of consigning many a plant to the 
rubbish-heap that otherwise might have flourished for years. When the 
plants are large and old a little fibry loam added helps to keep them 
strong and robust. 
When this repotting is done the plants should be replaced in the 
same genial growing atmosphere, waterings given whenever the plants 
require it, and frequent dewings overhead administered from the syringe, 
and a powerful sun deadened until the shoots are progressing freely in 
length. Then the plants should still have the stimulants to growth 
referred to ; but at the same time be placed in more open spaces, so as to 
enjoy the beams of the sun unshaded. According to the time when the 
plants received this treatment, by July or August, the plants may be 
removed to a cold pit, on which the glass may be kept at first for a 
week or ten days, just giving the plants enough air to prevent them 
getting overheated and drawn ; and then just take off the lights for some 
hours in the morning and evening ; and then remove them altogether in 
a week or so, except w r hen there is a likelihood of heavy rains. At this 
stage the plants will stand and delight in the brightest sun ; but the 
roots will be apt to be injured if the pots were fully exposed. But for 
this the plants in August and September would be as well in an open 
p'ace out of doors as a cold pit. The latter helps to shelter the pots. 
It will be seen that by the above method the object is to obtain long 
shoots, stimulated at first into growth, and then exposed to the sun to 
consolidate and ripen the growth, in order that the long shoots may be 
clustered from end to end with flower-buds. The plants should be housed 
by the middle of October. When growing freely, a little weak, cool 
liquid manure will be of advantage ; at other times I prefer it to be 
clear, pure, and soft. After housing, the plants may range in tempera¬ 
ture, and with plenty of fresh air, from 35° to 40°. When kept a little 
higher the flower-buds will swell quickly. Some ladies are very fond of 
such long shoots, all bloom, for making bows and wreaths. Where the 
conveniences exist, this is, on the whole, the easiest plan for growing 
these plants well, and the method is so simple as not to confuse by in¬ 
tricacy. Its success depends greatly on being able to assist growth after 
pruning with something like a tropical climate. I have managed that 
in hot summers, with a common glass frame, by giving little air, shade 
when necessary, and a moist atmosphere until wc considered it was time 
to harden the shoots. In such cases the sun acts as the heating medium 
in a hothouse. 
The main features in the second mode are similar, but attended with 
less trouble as to giving the plants suitable positions during the season. 
In this case it is best to give the plants a bush form. Instead, there¬ 
fore, of cutting back the young shoots that you received on the plant 
you had from the nursery, when done flowering it is best merely to nip 
off part of their points, and then tie out these shoots—some merely on a 
level with the rim of the pot, and others in intermediate positions 
between that and the central perpendicular one. After resting a few 
days, and syringing the stem and head, keep the plant in close and a 
little shaded. When the fresh shoots start the general management will 
be similar to the first case ; only if you are not able, by shutting in the 
sun’s heat, to make a cold frame or pit into a hothouse, with few ex¬ 
ceptions the growth of your young shoots will be short, though there 
will be plenty of them. These, though short, will require ripening, as 
well as their longer rivals, and, therefore, by the end of July, or 
the beginning of August at farthest, the plants must either stand in an 
open sunny place in the greenhouse, or be. placed out of doors in a turf- 
pit, or where the pots may be sheltered from the blaze of an autumn 
sun. If the plants are kept in the greenhouse, to prevent the pot 
getting too hot for the fine hairlike fibre roots close to its sides, it .is 
a good plan to put the pot inside a larger one, and stuff a little moss in 
the opening between them at the top. By this mode, whan the plants 
are fully established, very little pruning will be required every year, 
farther than just nipping back the shoots a little, and getting lid of 
the old decayed flower buds. Thus treated, and weak liquid manure 
given when the plants were growing, and a few similar doses when they 
were blooming, we have seen stubby specimens kept in C and 8-inch pots 
for a number of years ; care having been taken to drain we 1 at the 
first to prevent the entrance of worms, and surface with fresh compost 
every year. 
For window greenhouses 1 would prefer the last plan. In a common 
sitting-room, the temperature at the window averaging 50°, with a fair 
amount of fresh air, the plants will keep well in the spring months 
for a month or six weeks, or more. If the temperature is higher it will be 
difficult to keep the atmosphere pure and moist enough in proportion, 
and the blossom will be apt to fall prematurely, and the plant to become 
unsightly. Under such circumstauces the plants will be kept over the 
winter better near the win low of an unoccupied room where little or 
no fire heat is used, and where a little fresh air can be given when the 
outside temperature is not under 35°. In such a place the plants should 
rarely be lower than from 35° to 40°. By closing such a room at 
night, it would be rare, even in winter, that fire in the grate would be 
needed to keep out frost. When there is no convenience out of doors, and 
it is desirable that the windows of the sitting-room should be as gay as 
possible, a sort of plant-room of this kind is necessary as a nursery-re¬ 
serve for supplying the others. An Epacris plant so kept in winter will 
have a very different appearance in March and April when compared 
with one that was kept all the winter in the sitting-room, and exposed 
to the alternating heat and cold, and dried atmosphere, which are 
imagined necessary for the comfort of the family. 
The Epacris has rarely succeeded as a window plant because some of 
these little matters have been forgotten. The following is something 
like the system to be followed :—Prune and grow as in the second mode, 
and the window of the living-room will then be none too hot. Place the 
plant outside the window by July and August, if possible, and place the 
pot inside a larger one, or place the plant in similar conditions out of 
doors. House the plant in October. Place it in the window of & room 
where little or no fire is used in winter ; keeping the plant from frost by 
moving it to the centre of the room, and covering it if ncces ary, or 
lighting a small fire if absolutely essential. By March bring the plant 
to the window of the sitt'ng-room, and with the extra heat and a little 
sponging, or rather brush-daubing with water, the buds will soon swell 
and open. When the flowering is over repeat the process. In winter, 
whilst kept cool and airy, the plants will want a little water, and that 
hould be a few degrees warmer than the av rage heat of the room. 
With such care the same plants may ornament a sitting-room for years ; 
without it they will rarely last above a season.—S. H. R. 
MAKART DECORATIONS. 
An extremely elegant form of decoration, under the above name, 
has been brought into prominent notice of recent years, more especially 
by Messrs. Hooper & Co. of Covent Garden, who have given considerable 
attention to the matter, with very satisfactory results. The principal 
characteristic of the method is that dried Palm leaves, Grasses, and 
flowers are chiefly employed with most tasteful and durable results. It 
