2 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ Januart, 
many growers, and wliicli is fatal to the plants ever producing large highly- 
marked flowers, is that of turning the plants out-of-doors during the season of 
their growth, or before the wood is fully matured. In truth they are much 
better never turned out at all. Plants that are in the hard stunted condition indi¬ 
cated, can rarely be brought into free growth, and even when they can be induced to 
move freely, they generally are short-lived, often going off like a human being 
in an apoplectic fit. There is no time better than the present for procuring 
plants to grow on, for if got at once, and placed in a temperature of 50° by night 
with a little higher by day, they never lose so much leaf, and consequently root, 
as plants that are kept cooler during the winter. If the object is to get the 
plants up quickly in size, the flowers should be taken out, to throw all the energies 
of the plant into the formation of wood. In selecting the plants see that they 
are quite free from white or brown scale. Any that are so affected are only fit 
for the rubbish-heap, as they are not worth the trouble of cleaning. If there is 
a trace of either thrips or red-spider, dip them in strong tobacco-water three 
times at intervals of ten days, to destroy both insects and eggs. By the end of 
February they will have pushed considerable growth, and be commencing to root. 
They should then be potted into pots three inches larger than those they have 
previously occupied.—T. Baines, Southgate. 
POINSETTIA PULCHEEKIMA. 
HIS grand old plant, even now unsurpassed as an autumn and winter 
ornament to our stoves, is, from its refractory habit, too often an example 
of the term ‘leggy.’ This bad habit, however, may be conquered by 
taking it in time. To succeed in growing this plant well, it is absolutely 
necessary to begin at the beginning, which stage I set at the fall of the bracts. 
At this period the plants are too apt to be thrust into any corner out of the way, 
while, on the contrary, they should be fully exposed to all the light they can get; 
and moisture must be gradually reduced, that the wood may become thoroughly 
ripened, after which they may be stowed away for a three-months’ rest in a cool 
house, free from damp. 
About April the plants should be cut back to the old wood, shaken out from 
the old soil, and repotted in small pots in good old rotten turfy loam, with a 
small portion of leaf-mould and sand. A very gentle warmth soon induces 
them to break freely and need more pot-room, when a small proportion of rotten 
dung should be added to the compost. As soon as established, the best place 
for them is a cold pit, giving an occasional shift as required, allowing full 
exposure to the sun, giving plenty of water both overhead and at the root, and 
admitting abundance of fresh air as the heat of summer increases. As soon as 
the shoots are long enough, they must be constantly tied down, choosing a sunny 
day for the operation, as the shoots are then not so liable to snap. If this 
operation is neglected at this stage, good-bye to well-formed plants. 
An important point in the management now follows. As the summer heat de- 
