22 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ January, 
the matter ; that the means required are very few, and the culture very simple ; 
and that anyone having a glass-covered brick pit, commonly called a cold-pit, or 
even a common garden frame, may pass them through all their earlier stages as 
successfully as he who has every possible convenience—with this difference, that 
the cultivator with the more limited means must take time by the forelock. 
From twenty-four to thirty good sorts will afford the amateur abundance of 
variety as to colour, and a great amount of interest and pleasure in cultivating 
and watching their development during the various stages of growth. If he has 
any friends who could supply him with cuttings from old cast-away plants, early 
in the season, say, towards the end of April, at the latest, he would commence 
under very favourable auspices ; but even if he has to resort to the growers for 
sale, the acquisition of such a collection will not be a ruinous affair. I will 
hereafter supply a short list of good sorts which I have proved, all of which, I 
believe, may be obtained for about sixpence each by the first week in May. 
Newer varieties will, no doubt, be desired in after seasons. 
The earlier in May that the plants are procured the better will be the chances of 
after success, and the amateur should be very particular in asking for spring-struck 
cutting plants, for, as a general rule, they will in his hands be more manageable 
than older autumn-struck plants. The latter sometimes run lanky, and become 
hard-wooded at the base, and require a more complicated system of culture than 
a tyro may, perhaps, be master of, in order to grow them into dwarf stocky 
plants. For this reason, I recommend the spring-struck cuttings, as being more 
easily managed by beginners, who would also do well to explain their desires to 
the nurseryman, and ask him for well-rooted plants. 
In describing, however simply, the necessary cultural operations, we cannot 
avoid the occasional use of technical gardening terms; still such is the profusion 
of horticultural literature, and so greatly has the love of flowers been developed 
thereby, that I presume there are now few amateurs fond of flowers who have 
not become familiar with those of more frequent recurrence when describing the 
manipulation of pot plants. When, therefore, I advise that after the plants are 
received from the nursery, they should be turned out of the pots, and the state of 
the roots examined, I do not wish it to be understood that the amateur is to take 
these instructions literally, by shaking them out in any fashion and roughly dis¬ 
lodging the drainage and soil from the roots, but in the orthodox manner, by 
placing the palm of the hand over the surface of the pot, allowing the stem to 
pass between the fingers, gently inverting the pot upon the hand, and giving the 
rim a slight tap on the edge of the potting stand, when it will be found that the 
pot will lift off from the soil, and leave the latter in a compact and solid state. 
Then, if plenty of roots are to be seen around the outsides of the ball of earth, the 
plants are ready for a shift into larger pots ; but if few or no roots are to be seen, 
the pot is to be replaced, and the plants put into the pit or frame for a week or 
ten days longer, supplying them with plenty of ventilation, but slightly shading 
them from bright sun during the midday hours. — John Cox, Bedleaf. 
