August  16,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
155 
Fig.  42.— a  LADY  AMATEUR’S  GREENHOUSE. 
purpose  trellises  made  of  a  stout  galvanised  wire  to  form  the  circum¬ 
ference,  and  galvanised  wire  netting,  such  as  is  used  for  poultry  runs, 
if  neatly  manipulated,  is  as  good  as  anything.  These  stout  stakes 
with  protruding  ends  to  insert  in  the  pots  give  the  necessary  rigidity. 
According  to  the  positions  they  are  to  fill  they  may  be  made  with  a 
surface  of  from  10  to  30  square  feet.  It  is  very  easy  to  cover  such 
a  surface  with  leaves.  A  few  growths  trained  round  and  round  the 
trellis  will  do  that;  but  the  sole  beauty  of  the  Petunia  lies  in  the 
mass  of  colour  they  present  when  well  grown.  To  succeed  in  having 
an  unbroken  sheet  of  bloom  all  over  the  trellis  from  the  pot  upwards 
pinching  must  be  commenced  when  the  plants  are  not  over  3  inches 
high,  and  every  shoot  must  have  the  point  taken  out  when  it  has  grown 
from  2  to  3  inches.  If  this  treatment  is  persevered  in  and  a  proper 
distribution  made  of  the  resulting  shoots  there  will  be  at  least  one 
flowering  shoot  for  every  square  inch  on  the  trellis. 
Petunias  must  not  be  placed  in  too  large  pots,  or  in  greasy  mix- 
such,  and  greater  progress  will  be  gained  by  giving  small  shifts,  using 
sweet  open  material,  enriched  either  beforehand — that  is,  by  loam 
enriched  long  before  use — or  at  the  time  with  only  very  fine  bonemeal 
or  chemical  manure.  An  8-inch  pot  will  sustain  a  densely  covered 
trellis  of  12  square  feet;  a  10-inch,  20  square  feet;  and  a  12,  over 
30  feet.  Strong-growing  varieties  should  be  used  for  the  larger  plants, 
smaller  growers  for  the  lesser  size. 
The  utilisation  of  Petunias,  especially  the  single  varieties  (fig.  44, 
page  159),  for  the  purposes  of  summer  bedding  finds  favour  with 
many  growers,  and  when  the  season  is  favourable  they  are  productive 
of  a  most  beautiful  display.  Their  culture  for  this  purpose  is 
thoroughly  understood,  that  I  need  not  dilate  upon  it  save  to  emphasise 
the  necessity  for  keeping  the  plants  as  dwarf  and  stocky  as  possible. 
I  saw  a  bed  in  Hyde  Park  recently  that  was  very  attractive,  and 
comprised  not  only  several  colours  but  also  distinctive  forms  in  the 
flowers.  — Grower. 
tures  that  are  supposed  to  be  rich.  For  decorative  plants  4  or  5-inoh 
pots  are  sufficient,  and  to  maintain  the  supply  repeated  batches  can 
be  brought  forward.  When  young  and  vigorous  rich  soil  causes  a 
too  rapid  growth,  and  the  flowers,  especially  those  blotched  with  white, 
are  muddy  in  colour.  Moderately  grown  the  purity  of  the  white  is 
untarnished,  and  its  proportion  is  greater  than  when  too  great  vigour 
is  maintained.  Moreover,  under  such  conditions  the  plants  do  not 
become  so  rapidly  ungainly  in  appearance.  After  flowering  for  some 
time,  however,  signs  of  exhaustion  show  ;  the  growths  fail  to  lengthen, 
the  leaves  turn  sickly  yellow,  and  flowering  fails.  This  should 
be  anticipated,  and  prevented  by  judicious  applications  of  liquid 
manure. 
Large  plants  on  trellises,  of  course,  require  larger  pots,  but  “  the 
more  haste  the  less  speed  ”  if  it  is  tried  to  get  up  large  plants  quickly 
by  giving  large  shifts  into  rich  soil.  Petunia  roots  do  not  take  well  to 
goniums  will  do,  only  it  should  be  open,  so  that  the  delicate  roots  may 
move  freely.  A  good  admixture  of  flaky  leaf  soil  secures  this.  For 
many  decorative  purposes  the  brightly  coloured  doubles  are  best.  In 
order  to  have  such  well  furnished  it  is  necessary  to  begin  pinching 
and  staking  from  the  very  first.  When  these  are  wanted  large  for 
conservatory  decoration  it  is  necessary  to  go  on  pinching  continu¬ 
ally  and  removing  the  blooms  till  these  are  wanted.  The  shoots 
should  never  be  allowed  to  grow  into  each  other,  as  the  leaves 
are" sticky  and  the  stems  very  brittle.  For  doubles  the  bush  form 
is  best,  and  there  is  no  excuse  for  having  the  plants  not  covered 
with  bloom  from  the  pot  upwards.  It  is  only  a  question  of  feeding 
and  pinching. 
The  singles  are  far  best  on  flat  trellises,  and  make  capital  floral 
screens — better  than  anything  else  that  could  be  named,  perhaps,  for 
covering  back  walls  or  shutting  out  unpleasant  views.  For  this 
