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THE LADIES* MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
should be well drained, a layer two inches thick of broken pots, or, what 
is better, of cinders, being placed at the bottom. The soil should be 
loam, mixed with thoroughly decayed leaves, or part of an old hot-bed. 
The plants should be regularly watered; twice a day when the weather 
is clear and dry, and once when it is moist or cloudy; but the water 
should never be suffered to stand in the saucers, the saucers being emptied 
as soon as the water has run into them. When the leaves have fully 
expanded, the plants should be allowed as much air as the weather will 
permit, to prevent any danger of their damping off. 
To raise young plants, the seeds should be sown as soon as they are 
ripe, and the young plants should not be transplanted till the following 
April. They should be kept in a dry, warm, airy situation, and have 
very little water during winter; enough to prevent the fibrous roots from 
withering is all they require. In April the tubers should be taken up, 
without injuring the fibrous roots if possible, and re-planted in separate 
pots, well-drained, or in a bed in the open ground. The latter plan is 
best where the situation is dry, as it strengthens them very much; but 
care must be taken to cover them with a hand-glass if the weather should 
be cold and wet, though in fine weather they should have as much 
air as possible. In September the young plants should be taken up or 
re-potted for the winter, and, if kept warm, and nursed carefully, they 
will probably flower the next spring. 
VISITS TO THE NURSERIES. 
Hopgood's Craven Nursery , Bayswater Road , Feb. 8.— The severity of 
the weather has been such, as almost to destroy all relish for flowers ; 
and, indeed, there were last month scarcely any to be seen. Now the early 
bulbs are beginning to come in flower, and Mr. Hopgood’s greenhouses are 
rich in hyacinths of various dye, Polyanthus Narcissus, and Van Thol 
tulips. Besides these, he has a few Heaths yet in flower, viz. : Erica 
pyramidalis , E. gracilis , and E. mollis ; Epacris nivalis , and E. impressa , 
both most valuable plants from the profusion and durability of their 
flowers, are also in full bloom ; as are Chinese primroses of various kinds, 
and Correea speciosa. Rhodora canadensis , Azalea rubra , and A. pontica , 
are in flower in pots, having been forced; and abundance of beautiful 
China roses. 
