64 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 29. 
season are so different. We shall allude to the position 
in gradation. First :•—the best will he the house or 
heathery; the plants set there, with abundance of air 
streaming through them, by the pulling down and up, 
or altogether removing the side sashes. Of course, 
newly-pruned or newly-potted plants, will not receive 
this treatment. As a standing medium nothing excels 
stout wooden trellises; the next best is stone, the next 
slate, the last, and worst, iron. If the last should be used, 
instead of painting it after being cast, it will be better to 
send it to a galvanising company to receive a dip. When 
the house is supported on walls, two or three feet in height, 
it is advisable to have ventilators also in the wall close 
to the ground level. Unless in storms it is scarcely 
possible to have too much air; and in warm, dull 
weather, or with a drizzling rain, the roof sashes might 
also be removed. But kept cool in winter, the plants 
will stand thicker safely than it would he prudent to 
have them in summer. On this account, and also for 
introducing other things in bloom, a number must be 
removed : of these the hardier kinds should be moved 
first, and the older best-established of the second hardy 
afterwards. The second best place for these is a frame 
or wooden box, so that by setting it on bricks, a stream 
of air percolates through its bottom, as well as by 
moving the sashes that cover it. The third best is a 
turf or earth pit, with holes left for the currents 
of air below. The fourth is a brick pit similarly 
provided, and the fifth is a place by the side of a fence 
or hedge, where a thin canvass can be used to defend 
from the fierceness of a mid-day sun, though even that 
would not do much injury to healthy plants, only it 
would make them look browner for a time than some 
people would like. In all these positions, the plants 
should be set on a couple of tiles or bricks, or any other 
make-shift, so that worms be excluded, water allowed to 
percolate, and air freely to circulate. The sashes will 
chiefly be wanted in the middle of bright days; of 
course this treatment is not to be applied to plants 
newly-potted, or that we wish to grow rapidly. The 
sides of these pits, &c., act as a safeguard to the sides of 
the pot. 
Fourth. Autumn position. I have already exceeded 
my limits, and must only say,—house the slowest-grow¬ 
ing and tenderest first—never let even the hardiest be 
frosted—give plenty of air so long as the weather will 
let you, and during winter act according as you wish 
merely to preserve, or also to grow and bloom. Before 
housing, beware of allowing them to be soaked with 
cold autumn rains. R. Fish. 
CULTURE OF ACHIMENES FOR SPECIMEN 
PLANTS. 
( Continued, from page 35.) 
In our last paper on this subject, we mentioned that 
the plants in pans should be put in with the soil below 
the rim of the pans two inches. It should have been 
three or four inches, and for this reason; the plants 
push out roots from the stems, and these roots it is de¬ 
sirable to encourage. As the plants grow, the space left 
below the rim of the pots should be filled up with the 
compost; this greatly assists the growth of the plants, 
the roots strike into fresh soil, and thus increase the 
power of progression in growth. 
Training. —It will he necessary to train the shoots as 
they grow, in order to cause the whole to form a regular¬ 
shaped bush. To do this, it will he necessary to use 
sticks, but they should not he so long as to reach above 
the tops of the shoots, and they should be painted 
green, rendering them scarcely visible, even when first 
applied. When the shoots have been trained in the 
way they should grow, they will soon hide these 
supports, and not be offensive to the most fastidious. 
We are no advocate for sticks, hut they are necessary 
evils, and should be kept out of sight as much as 
possible. A very little practice will enable even a new 
beginner so to arrange the shoots as to cause them to 
form a handsome specimen. The most showy form is 
that of a pyramid, and to obtain that form, the strongest 
shoots should be placed in the centre, the next around 
them, and the shortest at the sides. If this is well done, 
the plants will he dense in foliage, and flowered down to 
the edges of the pots. 
Watering. —As the compost is open and well-drained, 
they will hear, when growing and in bloom, a liberal 
supply of water. Every third or fourth time add a 
small quantity of liquid-manure to the water; this will 
strengthen the growth, and heighten the colour of the 
flowers, as well as their size. Previously to blooming, 
let them he syringed over the plants with tepid water 
frequently. 
Insects. —Fortunately, on account of the growth being 
only annual, these lovely plants are not much troubled 
with insects. It is true, that when growing in a dirty 
house, where insects are allowed to get the upper hand, 
the red spider and the green fly will travel from other 
plants to the achimenes, but in these days of good gar¬ 
dening this is now, happily, a rare case. However, if 
these pests do appear, let no time he lost in applying 
the usual remedies. As our able coadjutor, Mr. Erring- 
ton, says:—“ Our readers may depend upon it, preven¬ 
tion is better than cure, and assuredly less disastrous 
in its effects.” But we cannot agree with him that every 
gardener should set his face against tobacco-paper. It 
is true, if it is bad, it is of no use, neither is tobacco 
itself; but if it is good, it is assuredly much cheaper than 
the best tobacco, and as a proof, we need only mention 
that in the extensive establishment of Pine-apple Place, 
we use nothing else to destroy the green fly. We have 
found it destructive also to that pest, the black thrip, so 
injurious to many plants, and to none more so than the 
Indian orchids. Well, then, if the green fly appears 
on the achimenes, smoke them with tobacco-paper, but 
procure it from a respectable dealer who will warrant it 
good. The red spider may be kept under by a free use 
of the syringe, and keeping up a large amount of atmo¬ 
spheric moisture, with a large admission of fresh air 
every fine day. If the weather should be gloomy for a 
long time, the mildew will sometimes make its appear¬ 
ance upon the young and tender leaves of these plants. 
This is a fearful disease, and its progress must be 
arrested immediately; the means are, as much fresh air 
as possible, combined with a higher and drier tempe¬ 
rature, together with the application of a dusting over 
the leaves affected, of sulphur-vivum. Should any in¬ 
dividual plant be very much affected with this fell 
disease, take it out of the house and destroy it alto¬ 
gether. 
The placing of the plants during the earlier part of 
their growth in a warm pit, will give more room to the 
regular woody inhabitants of the stove or greenhouse, 
but as soon as the stove plants are out of bloom, put 
them in pots, and the greenhouse ones set out-of-doors; 
there is then plenty of room for such plants as Achi¬ 
menes, Gesneras, and Gloxinias. These ornament the 
stove and greenhouse from May to September, and keep 
them gay with bloom all these months, if judiciously 
managed by potting them at different times in the 
earlier months of the year. If these showy plants are 
used to ornament the greenhouse, it must, of course, 
be kept rather warmer, by shutting up earlier in the 
afternoon, than if its regular inhabitants were kept in. 
No artificial heat will be wanted during the summer 
months if the greenhouse is shut up every night. The 
splendid annuals, such as balsams, coxcombs, &c., may 
he placed amongst them, and when they are all in 
