JANUARY. 
7 
manure, about one-sixth. In the next potting, which should be into 10-incli 
pots (the largest allowed, except for single specimens), good strong, but still 
sandy or sanded, loam should be used, with a still larger portion of manure, 
bnt not more than one-third. It is a great mistake to use much manure, or 
that insufficiently rotted, in potting plants of this kind, or to give it in a liquid 
state until the pots are filled out with roots. 
The plants should receive their largest shift or potting about the middle or 
latter end of May; and, towards the latter end of June, or about midsummer, 
they will have filled their pots with fibres, and then is the time they will need 
a little extra support or stimulus in the shape of liquid manure. This should 
be given weak at first, and not too often—say once in three days. It is when 
the plants get into this stage that they will begin to grow rapidly, and must be 
constantly attended to as regards stopping and tying down, in order to make 
them dwarf and bushy. The process is more easily seen than described, and 
is one of those operations that can only be properly understood after a little 
practice. 
The plants must also be plunged either in the ground or any prepared place 
or bed in an open spot; or the pots may be sunk into larger pots, and the 
cavity filled with soil, moss, or any material that may happen to be at hand. 
This latter process of double-potting is convenient where space is any way 
limited. The plants can be more easily moved about, and may stand in places 
where it may not be advisable to plunge in the ground. This, however, is just 
a matter of choice, although the hint may be useful. 
From this time forward the main points in growing good specimens are to 
feed the plants sufficiently, but not too much, with liquid manure. If guano is 
used, give about half an ounce to the gallon of water, the latter being slightly 
warm; if cow or sheep dung the strength may be somewhat proportioned. 
When the plants are in full growth—that is, from the beginning of July till 
they begin to bloom—this liquid may be given every day, or every two days, 
at the discretion of the grower. My own practice is to alternate it with one 
watering of clear water, whether it be once a-day, twice a-day, or once in two 
days. What is necessary, is (making use of a rather common illustration) to 
regard the operation somewhat in the light of fattening a prize pig, which is 
treated to the most fattening diet, and plenty of it. Another point is to attend 
to the tying-in, using few or no sticks ; the object being to get the plant to a 
good shape, presenting a uniform surface of bloom without exhibiting the 
twisting and tying. This can only be done by taking the earliest opportunity 
of drawing-in each shoot; but about a month before the plants open their 
blooms some sticking and tying will be necessary. My own practice is to use 
thin willow withs, which, when dried and stiff, answer the purpose admirably. 
Others, however, use lath sticks painted green, which are not so apt to break 
off at the surface of the soil. In tying, some little skill must be displayed, in 
order to avoid any stiffness in the appearance of the plant after the operation. 
There can be no better guide for beginners than to observe three rules respecting 
plant-tying—first, use as few sticks as possible; secondly, conceal both sticks 
and ties as much as possible; and, thirdly, bear in mind the form the plant 
would assume if left to nature. If these are duly considered, a little practice 
will soon enable a man to tie plants both neatly and expeditiously; and this, 
be assured, is no trifling matter with young gardeners, who often incur the dis¬ 
pleasure of their employers by fumbling for days and weeks together over a 
few plants which, when strained and stiffened on innumerable sticks, are a 
great deal the worse in health and appearance. 
When, towards the latter end of October, the plants begin to show bloom, 
it would be as well to take them into a greenhouse, or other shelter. If for 
