THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[June 6. 
] 146 
. azaleas, soon would destroy the beauty of those later- 
blooming ones. Even in ono small house, heated by 
one flue, or set of pipes, various degrees of temperature 
and humidity in the atmosphere may easily bo main¬ 
tained, by means of divisions ; and keeping these 
divisions differently, as respects shading and air. The 
j knowledge of this would often obviate the necessity, in 
r heating by hot water, of increasing the expense by reason 
of stop-cocks, or valves, for every division,however small. 
The amateur, therefore, who wishes to have his azaleas 
early and late (and no tribe is more worthy of having 
| their beauties prolonged), or who would wish to pursue 
j a similar course in the case of any other favourite family 
| of plants, should resolve upon having a division in his 
j house, however small; which,even if pf glass, will he no 
! great consideration now% as regards expense, unless for 
the door and other wood-work. One department, then, 
could be applied to the cultivating of plants, and the 
other chiefly to the exhibiting of them in bloom. Of 
course, the warmest end of the house would require to 
be devoted to the purposes of culture; and even there, 
by a difference of air at one end, much difference in tem¬ 
perature and atmospheric 1 moisture cau be maintained. 
Plants when in bloom, even if somewhat tender, will 
remain in bloom much longer if kept cool and airy, 
insects prevented from access by gauze netting, and 
shaded from bright sunshine. 
In great as well as in small gardens much advantage 
would be gained by the plants, and an additional interest 
awakened, by having blooming plants and growing plants 
separate from each other, at least to a great extent. 
Even the difference exhibited by contrast in passing from 
the one to the other would create a feeling of pleasure, 
from the very fact, that the distinction u r as marked and 
defined. When flowering plants are sprinkled somewhat 
regularly over the surface of a house, or stage, with green 
and growing plants between, the feeling produced is more 
that derived from viewing varieties combined in regular 
confusion than associated with the delights derived from 
a felt harmony of parts. I lately saw two houses of 
plants: one consisted of geraniums in full bloom, the 
other of geraniums, calceolarias, azaleas, &c.; a few in 
bloom, the others growing and showing hloom-buds : no 
mingling and commingling of the contents of the two 
houses, as is generally done by many of ourfriends, so as to 
make all places look gay—sticking a flowering plant here, 
and another there—-would have produced such a satis¬ 
factory result as the mere contrast in the present instance 
elicited. “ Oh ! but,” says one of our readers, “ such an 
arrangement would be so unnatural: it is not at all like 
what we see in our meadows, our hedgerows, and wood¬ 
land brakes and fells—those brakes which that amiable 
lady in The Cottage Gardener, whose writings you so 
much admire, praises so eloquently and well.” No! but 
not to enter into this pleasing question at present, 1 will 
j content myself with stating, that a plant-house is not a 
wild brake or heath. It is an artificial erection for a 
particular purpose ; and ought, in everything within, to 
bear the impress of an arrangement different from what 
exists in external nature; except, indeed, in those colossal 
piles of glass which are yet to be erected, where meadows 
and fields are to be enclosed, and woodland scenes in 
Australia, or tropical scenes from warmer latitudes, are 
to be pourtrayed ! and where pots, and boxes, and baskets, 
would be as much out of character, with the style of art 
attempted, as they are perfectly in keeping with the not 
more artificial, but the more apparent, art represented 
in our greenhouses. 
Rut then, again, there is the shafting from bright sun, 
necessary to keep azaleas and other flowers long in bloom, 
and also to assist them when growing and making their 
now wood; and this I find to be a troublesome and 
j -expensive affair, and if neglected the plants aro more 
j susceptible to injury than if they were never shaded at 
all. Bunting, fastened by one side to the roof, and by 
the other to a round pole, with a wheel at one end for 
holding the rope, and either or not connected witli a 
pulley-wheel, answers remarkably well; but, then, my 
man “ Friday ” pulls it up and lets it down with such a J 
jerk, that in a few months, if not weeks, it is pretty well 
in ribands; and, then, when in despair I have turned to 
mats—in the placing, fixing, and removing them—more 
glass was broken than the plants were worth, so that, 
being obliged to be from home a great paid of the day, I 
am next to hopeless as to succeeding with my green¬ 
house, unless a cheap and secure method of shading 
could be adopted. 
A very cheap method, which we were among the first 
to use, though not a very pretty looking one, but not a 
whit more unsightly than dirty mats, consists in dissolv¬ 
ing a little whitening in a pail of water (not lime, mind, 
that injures paint), and then throwing it over the root 
with the syringe : a very little whitening will be sufficient, 
or it will look ugly. As we have not much dull weather 
in the heat of summer, except what is accompanied by 
rain, the whitening would seldom want removing or re¬ 
placing, except when washed off by these natural means. 
Dipping a whitewashing brush into the mixture, and 
quickly and evenly drawing it down each row ot glass, 
would look neater ; but in both cases your liquid must be 
just coloured with the whitening. Try a bit, and let it 
dry, to satisfy yourself before doing a whole house, as it 
is much easier to over-do it than under-do it. But if neat¬ 
ness and suitability combined be your object, and you do 
not mind a little time at first, I have found nothing better 
than common size, or glue, put on the glass quite hot as 
thinly as possible with a brush, and then slightly daubed 
with the points of a dry brush as you proceed. The 
glass should be dry, but the sun not shining strong. In 
ordinary occasions it will last until the heavy rains of 
autumn; will be quite inconspicuous, unless you come 
close beside it, but will blunt the force ot rays ot light 
sufficiently to suit tender growing as well as flowering 
plants. If you want it denser, a little whitening dis¬ 
solved in it would suit your purpose; but the last thing 
will leave a greyish-white appearance on the glass. 
Always put it on outside. 
We make no apology for these several digressions, 
though I wish I could have made them shorter. They 
will be generally applicable, as well as suitable to Azaleas. 
Without shade, or keeping them at a distance from the 
glass, they neither cau be preserved in bloom late nor 
forwarded so as, without forcing in winter, to produce 
their flowers from January to April, and continue doing 
so from year to year. Different views are held by first- 
rate gardeners as to the period when different operations 
should bo performed; but these differences would be 
greatly reconciled were it seen that the difference con¬ 
sisted less in principle than from looking at the object 
from different points of view. Thus, for instance, in the 
disputed matter ot potting, some would say pot and repot 
at any time; others, pot immediately when growth com¬ 
mences after flowering; and others again, and equally 
good growers, say pot only in the autumn, when the new 
wood is ripened and the buds are set. Now I consider 
all these directions good, provided the circumstances ot 
the plants are duly attended to. A lanky-looking plant 
should bo cut down, placed in a high temperature, say 
from 00° to 70°, and potted as soon as the fresh shoots 
begin to break. Plants flowering from Christmas to 
April, when cleared of their flowers, should have the first 
and strongest shoots produced stopped, to insure a more 
plentiful, as well as a more equal, as to strength, supply 
of young shoots, as upon them the next seasons bloom¬ 
ing depends. When these begin to break freely, the 
plants should he examined and repotted, or merely top- 
dressed, as may be seen necessary; placed in a vinery at 
work, or set in the warmest end of the growing depart- 
