Second Week

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.



A free ventilation is of importance, and by closing with a humid

atmosphere early in the evening a vigorous growth will be promoted.

Liberal shifts to be given to such plants as may now require them,

before their roots become matted. Remove all plants intended for bedding

out, and let them remain for a short time under the protection of a cold

frame, or in beds hooped over, and covered at night with mats, or other

such protecting materials. This gradually-hardening-off will better

enable them to withstand unfavourable weather, if it should occur after

they are planted out.



Azaleas.--All irregularities of growth should be corrected by pruning.

We have lately seen the beneficial effects of close pruning on such

plants; they had been cut in severely last season by removing strong,

straggling branches of old wood, to give some a spherical and others

a pyramidal form. When pruned, the ball was reduced, the plant fresh

potted in a smaller-sized pot, and the peat soil rammed as hard as

it was possible to make it; then watered, and introduced to heat. The

plants treated in that manner are now covered with bloom, and in a high

state of vigour.



Heaths.--Keep the tops pinched off, to form bushy plants.



New Holland Plants.--Some of them of weak growth, and which naturally

make long, straggling shoots, are much improved by bending down the

branches, and fixing them to a wire hoop, or string attached to the

rim of the pot. By such means the nakedness of the plant at its base is

hidden, and the check imposed on the ascent of the sap will induce an

increased supply of shoots. Pick off the seed-pods as the plants go out

of bloom. Cut back and arrange the shoots in the best manner, to produce

compact growth.



Pelargoniums.--All that are showing bloom, unless of very gross habit,

will receive benefit from a supply of a little weak manure water. For

that purpose put cow, horse, or sheepdung into a tub, and to one peck

add five gallons of rain or other soft water. When taking it for use

draw it off clear, and give the plants a watering twice a week. Give air

freely, shut up early, and syringe the plants overhead till the flowers

expand, when syringing should be discontinued. As the petals are apt to

drop very soon in hot weather, it is recommended to touch the centre

of the flower with a camel-hair pencil, or small feather, dipped in gum

water, which will stick the petals together and prolong the blooming.

Such is the general practice at our metropolitan exhibitions.





STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.



As the stove plants grow, allow them more space, especially such plants

as are prized for the beauty of their foliage. Give frequent attention

to stopping and training. Look to the climbers frequently, to regulate

their growth and to prevent entanglement, and a world of trouble and

confusion. Put in cuttings of such plants as Brugmansias, Clerodendrons,

Eranthemums, Erythrinas, Poinsettias, and those winter-flowering plants

Euphorbia jaquiniflora and the Gesnera bulbosa. Where there is only

one house in which to grow Orchids, a compromise as to temperature must

be made to suit the natives of the hot and moist valleys or shady

woods of the East, and those which inhabit high and airy regions in the

Western hemisphere. To accomplish this it is advisable to allow a free

circulation of air during the early part of the day, with an abundance

of atmospheric moisture, and to shut up early in the afternoon with a

high degree of temperature.



Achimenes.--They delight in a moist heat, and a partially-shaded

situation. More air to be given as they advance in growth. The shoots to

be staked out neatly.



Gesneras to be treated similarly, with the addition of more light.



Gloxinias.--The same as Achimenes.





FORCING-HOUSES.



Cherries.--Give more air, and keep a drier atmosphere when the fruit is

ripening. Give plenty of water to the trees swelling their fruit. Keep

them free from insects, or the fruit will be of little value.



Figs.--Air freely, to give flavour to the fruit now ripening. Avoid

wetting the fruit when it begins to soften.



Melons.--Keep up the heat of the beds by renewing or turning the

linings. Slightly shade the plants when the sun is powerful, to keep the

foliage in a healthy state, without which good fruit cannot be produced.

When the frames are at liberty, Melons may be grown in them with a

little assistance from dung heat at bottom.



Peaches.--Give a liberal supply of air, with less water, to trees, the

fruit of which are ripening.



Pines.--Continue the previous instructions in the management of the

plants in the different stages of growth.



Vines.--Thin and stop the shoots, and thin the berries in good time.

Attend to the late crops, and set, by hand, the blossoms of Muscats,

West's St. Peter's, and other shy setters. Be sure that inside borders

are properly supplied with water, giving sufficient quantities to

thoroughly moisten the whole mass of soil.