124 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
indulge their plants with an application of liquid manure once a 
week while they are growing; this may be beneficial, but re¬ 
quires great practical tact in the applying, and in the hands of 
an inexperienced grower, would probably prove rather an over¬ 
powering enemy than a useful ally. The syringe may be fre¬ 
quently and beneficially used from the time of their first seasonal 
action till the blooms are expanding. The plants should remain 
in the house till the blooming is over, immediately after which 
they may be taken into the open air, pruned and repotted. In 
pruning, the new wood should be cut back to within two or three 
eyes or joints of its base, the parts taken off serving as cuttings 
to form plants for the next season. This is the treatment usually 
applied, with some little variations to those plants intended as 
specimens; but there are many other ways in which the Gera¬ 
nium is equally beautiful and of as much importance. For 
planting in masses, in beds, or mixed with other exotics; for 
vases or rustic baskets, as window plants, or for forcing they are 
equally useful and equally admired : for all the latter purposes 
their treatment is the simplest possible, consisting only in the 
observation of the principal points of the foregoing rules, suited 
of course to the varied circumstances under which they are 
placed. We cannot avoid saying a few words on the saving 
and raising of geraniums from seed, though our space is rather 
limited ; yet if we do not avail ourselves of the present oppor¬ 
tunity, before we can again return to the subject the season for 
it will be past. 
In selecting plants from which to obtain seed, only those 
possessing the most desirable qualities should be chosen, such as 
have fine shaped flowers, a large bold truss, or are remarkable 
for the brilliancy or singularity of their colours. The plants so 
chosen should have a full exposure to the sun in the most airy 
part of the greenhouse. They will require to remain in such 
situation till the seed is perfectly ripe, which may be known by 
the white downy awns of the seed bursting through the capsule; 
the seed may then be sown at once, if there is proper accommo¬ 
dation for the plants through the winter, if not it will be better 
to defer the sowing till the following spring; the seed may be 
sown in pots of light jich earth, such as recommended for the 
cuttings, and plunged in a gentle hotbed, till all are up. The 
treatment of the young plants is the same, whether they are ob- 
