November 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
branches from the base. Tliis method I found a good 
one for causing frec-llowering among the stronger-grow¬ 
ing Kcnneclijas and Jlardenheryias, from the ciieck given 
by training the branches downwards. Jb.it, again, sup- 
jiose yon have got a jilant of tiie slower-growing Zichyas, 
that you wisely resolve to cover a trellis with, beginning 
at its base, and you have cither got a solitary shoot, or 
several shoots, bare for a foot or eighteen inches from 
the surface of the pot; then the best thing you can do 
is to give the jdaut the usual good treatment, until the 
month of April, or the beginning of May. Tlien prune 
it back, not to the surface of the pot, but so as, if 
possible, to retain a few leaves to keep up the circu¬ 
lation ; then tie the shoot, or shoots, to the side of the 
pot, in order to cause it to break more easily. Place 
the plant in an increase of temperature of ten degrees, 
and in a moist atmosphere; and if the stem was not 
very bard and old, yon will get plenty of young shoots 
to choose from. When these are from one to two 
inches in length, a fresh shift may bo given, if the roots 
reipnre it, and a vigour will be secured that the old 
stunted stem never would have yielded. Mind, if the 
stem is old, pruning back closish to the pot will bo 
likely to end in dcatli If the stem was quite young, 
it might be cut back close without danger. 
-Ithly. Potting—v;hen should it bo done ? When the 
plants are young, and small sliifts are given, attend to 
them as often as necessary. When they become large, 
once a year will be ample, and that is best done when 
the plants are commencing to grow freely after flowering, 
land receiving what slight pruning they require. Esta¬ 
blished j)lants on trellises will not want potting for 
several years, if the surface is freshened uji, and weak 
waterings from old cow-dung given when blooming and 
growing. 
5thly. Size of pots .—Eight inches in diameter will 
grow the smaller Zichyas, and those from twelve to six¬ 
teen inches will do for the stronger of the allied genera. 
Cthly. Trellises .—These are most convenient if made of 
wire, and coloured a dark brown or olive-green. Young 
Larch-trees, peeled so as to have all the twigs left, then 
thoroughly dried, and either painted or not, do very 
well, but require to be fixed in the pot—a groat disad¬ 
vantage—ami also demand more labour in training. 
Two things are necessary to bo attended to with wire 
trellises: First, that they should be fixed to the pot, 
instead of going into the soil; secondly, that they should 
be round in form, instead of square or semicircular; 
and, I may add, thirdly, that the training, when the 
lilant is established, ought to hide the trellis, and the 
twigs hung in massive, careless profusion, instead of 
each being stuck in its place with mechanical precision. 
Never forget that the trellis, however pretty, is merely 
a necessary supporting crutch, and tliat plants, as well 
as men, look none the worst when they seeni independent 
of such aids. 
Tthly. Soil. — Heath soil must constitute the chief 
material for all when young, mixed with a little char¬ 
coal and broken potsherds, both of the latter being 
clean and free from dust. As the plants increase in 
size, a little at first, and then more loam may be added, 
of a very fibi’y character, until, for Kennedyas and llar- 
denhergias, it may constitute one-quarter, j'eat one-half, 
and charcoal, broken pots, and sand, another quarter. 
When the trellis sliift is given, the compost should be 
pre-eminently libry and rough; but few of the individual 
pieces shoidd he larger than a walnut, and most of the 
small earthy matter bo excluded, using enough of silver 
sand, &c., to keep all in an open state wiieu firmly 
pressed. It would be advisable to use small successive 
shifts, until the plants filled five-inch pots or more, and 
then transfer them, by a largo shift, to the trellis pot. 
Hthly. Watering .—The roots must never be allowed 
to become dry, but comparatively little will be wanted 
R.5 
in winter, or in dull weather. If well drained, and the 
soil open, as advised, they are not easily injured witli 
water, provided its temperature is sufficiently high, and 
there is no want of light. Plants that have received ii, 
large shift must he watered very carefully for the first , 
twelve-months, more especially in winter, as if the un- 
appropriated-by-roots soil, close to the sides of the pots, 
were soaked and soured, the plant would be greatly ; 
injured. A little manure-water may he safely given ; 
when the plant is growing after liowering. 1 
htbly. Pruning. —This will be required according to j 
the strength of growth, performing the operation after j 
flowering. Prune so as to secure healthy, well-ri])eued | 
shoots for the next year. In some cases the bloom is j 
chiefly })roduccd near the points of such shoots, but ; 
mostly either in single blossoms, or racemes from the j 
a.xils of the leaves. 
lOtbly. Time of Floirering. —'J’his, with the kinds 
mentioned, may be expected to last from March to the 
middle of July; earlier or later, according as the plants 
have been accelerated or retarded, by being kept in a 
warm or cool greenhouse during the autumn and wdnter. 
11 tidy. Temperature. —They may be kept at from 4(1'^ j 
to 48^ in winter, but if often below 40^’, or in dull cold I 
weather kept long as low, the plants will feel it, and j 
more especially if the soil is wet. I have had fine i 
specimens rendered worthless from cold alone. The i 
leaves, especially of the simple-leaved kinds, seemed as j 
j if they had been burned, but the cold it was that ; 
j scorched them. Were I growing plants as specimens j 
i again, my previous experience would point to 45“ as the 
I lowest average temperature at night, but I should not 
I like to see them long under 48°, and in fine weather, a i 
I couple of degrees higher, with an allowance of 10° more 
I for sunshine. They who study the native climate of these : 
I plants, will see the necessity for this. The other seasons 
may bo mostly regulated bypositiow. Expose the plants 
j close to the glass in spring; keep them slightly shaded ' 
and cool when in bloom; more shaded, closer, and in a ! 
raoister atmosphere after pruning; freely exposed to the 
sun in the end of summer; and during the autumn, 
never putting them out-of-doors at all, unless in warm 
autumns, in a sheltered place, full in the sun, the ])ots 
protected from its rays, the plants housed before cold : 
nights come, and obtaining a light, open position all 
winter. If on cireular trellises, they should bo turned 1 
jiartly round every other day, that all parts may have , 
light alike. ' 
12thly. Insects. —Red Spider sometimes comes—but 
that, sidphur water, or sulphur fumes, will cause to flit, j 
A worse enemy is a white scale insect At first, and i 
when thin, washing off with soap water may aid you ; 
but when once colonies are formed, a young plant, or 
cutting down the old one and commencing anew, are i 
your best remedies; in the latter case scrubbing well j 
the old stems as the preliminary process. Against these j 
annoyances, cleanliness and high health are the best ] 
safeguards, and for this purpose the syringe and te]nd | 
clear water are good agents, applied sparingly in sunny | 
days in winter, and morning and evening in summer j 
and early autumn. 11. Iisu. j 
THE PETUNIA. j 
This is a florist’s flower that is advancing in public ; 
estimation, both as an ornament to the greenhouse- | 
stage, and to the flower-garden as a bedding-out-plant. 
Perhaps the best that was ever yet raised is the one 
known as the Shruhland Rose Petunia. It is equally- 
beautiful in the greenhouse, and in beds in the open air, 
yet I suspect there are several varieties something like 
it sold for it, and I draw this inference from the lact, 
that a gentlemen from Manchester writes to me for the 
