9 4 
THE florist’s JOURNAL. 
injudicious and unfair treatment, considering the vast accession 
of ornament derivable from the family ; and we once fondly 
imagined that the presence of so many camellia, heath, and 
geranium houses as are to be seen would have induced, ere 
this some lover of the tribe to set a most honourable example 
by devoting a house to the exclusive management of these 
beautiful plants. It is unnecessary to enlarge on the highly 
ornamental feature such a structure would constitute, for that 
is obvious. There is indubitably a far greater variety of form 
and colours to be selected from among them than in either of 
the families named, to which a separate house is considered 
necessary ; and we can only say we hope still to see it, feeling 
certain that when once adopted, and their beauties thus made 
apparent in the manner they deserve to be seen, the practice 
will soon become general. 
The importance of providing a period of rest for mature 
plants, pointed out on the occasion before referred to, is more 
fully established by the experience of another season’s manage¬ 
ment: those which were allowed to remain quite dormant through 
the entire winter exhibited a decided superiority over others 
subject to a continuous excitement; that it should be so, is no 
more than what a careful consideration of the native habits of 
the plant would have led any one to expect; and we shall not 
be surprised to find many other plants benefited to an equal 
extent by similar treatment. It must be explained, however, 
that it is not advisable to carry out this system of entire inac¬ 
tiveness quite so fully with young or small plants as with those 
which have produced flowers the previous season ; or it may 
happen that from want of opportunity to complete a due store 
of nutriment they will fail to shoot again on the application of 
stimuli. This, however, is a matter in which a very little prac¬ 
tical information will set any one right. 
The use of peat for delicate growing kinds is gaining ground 
in the estimation of most growers, who find the general health 
of the plant much improved by it, which consequently induces 
a more copious display of flowers; and this, whether by its 
chemical properties, or by the additional vigour imparted to 
the plant, we will not pretend to say, have a richness and bril¬ 
liancy of colouring far surpassing those of former years. 
The system of removing them from small pots into the 
largest size they are intended to fill seems now to be univer- 
