THE FLORIST. 
105 
loss of time. The bulk ought to have been shifted previously to 
this, especially as the season is so forward, the growth up to this 
time being considerable. It will be seen that the season rules 
these operations, by noticing the various times we have com¬ 
menced potting in the last three years ; in 1846, February 25th ; 
1847, March 24th; 1848, March 1st.* C. Turner. 
Chalvey. 
Dahlias, —Sow seed the first week in this month. Many, no doubt, 
have them sown and up, and sufiiciently strong to transplant into 
small pots or pans, according to quantity and inclination. Keep 
the young plants growing, giving them all possible room, to pre¬ 
vent their becoming drawn up, as they will otherwise suffer on 
being planted out. We sow about the middle of this month, and 
generally get them into bloom before our neighbours. Let the 
heat in' your hotbed be strong, and water sparingly at first. Re¬ 
pot all dahlia-cuttings that have been struck in store pots, and 
harden them gradually. Continue to put in cuttings to a greater 
extent than is required for planting out, as many do better during 
the winter, if kept in pots, from the stalk being so much smaller; 
they will also take less room. C. Turner. 
Chalvey, 
Epacrises. —As these go out of bloom, I cut them back “ hard,” 
leaving as many spurs as are compatible with the formation of a 
good foundation for future growth; tie them out as far as may be 
safe without splitting at the joints; place them in gentle heat, and 
they will shortly break in all directions, filling up and forming 
a compact head, thereby obviating the main objection hitherto 
made to the cultivation of this flower, of whose capabilities for im¬ 
provement by hybridising we have at present but little concep¬ 
tion. When they have made an inch or two of growth, harden 
off, and in a few days after re-pot. 
P.S.—Epacris laevigata is, of course, excepted in the above remarks. 
W. H. Story. 
Ericas and Epacrises. —Although these require constant attention 
all the year round (and what class of plants does not ?), at the 
present time they call for more than an ordinary share, for all the 
Spring-blooming varieties of the former are rapidly swelling their 
flower-buds, while the latter have, with a few exceptions, just 
passed their annual season of floral loveliness. I use the pro¬ 
noun my in its literal sense, as I take the entire management of 
• these plants into my own hands. Imagine me, therefore, if you 
please, in one corner of my heath-house, with three or four feet 
of the rack cleared of plants, an assortment of green-painted 
sticks of different lengths, some soft bast, and a sharp penknife. 
I begin with Aristata, Odorata, Rosea, and their varieties, as 
* Sow seed in pans, or broad top pots. Let the pots drain well, by standing 
them on strips of wood. Keep the plants clean of all dead foliage, and scare 
away the sparrows if troublesome, by tying speckled worsted over and about the 
plants. 
