Second Week

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. The principal part of the greenhouse plants may now be removed to an out-of-door situation, open to the morning sun, and protected from high winds, and be placed on some hard bottom through which the worms cannot get into the pots.



The specimen plants that remain should be turned round from time to time, that they may not get one-sided; and allow them to have plenty of room on all sides. Also, the young plants intended for specimens should have their flower-buds picked off, to encourage their growth. Balsams.--Encourage them by frequent shifts, and keep them in bottom heat, and near the glass. The prematurely-formed flower-buds to be picked off, as the plants should attain a considerable size before they are allowed to bloom. Calceolarias.--The most critical time is after the plants have flowered; if allowed to produce seed, they generally die off--Nature having completed her task. When the bloom begins to fall, cut the plants down, and repot into a larger size; place them in a cold frame facing the east, the lights on during the day, with air, and entirely off during the night, unless in rainy weather, as the night dews are highly beneficial. Treated thus the plants will soon produce new shoots, which must be taken off and pricked out into small pots in a very open soil, and placed in a very gentle bottom heat to strike. When rooted, to be shifted into pots of a larger size. Cinerarias.--The plants that have bloomed through the season to be cut down, turned out of their pots, and to have at least half the old soil removed from their roots. Prepare a piece of ground, in a sheltered situation, with leaf mould or rotten dung and sand, in which the Cinerarias are to be planted, one inch below the level of the soil, in rows fifteen inches apart and one foot apart in the row. When planted, to be well watered. Climbers.--The Passifloras, Mandevilla suaveolens, Tecoma jasminoides, and other such climbers in the conservatory, will now be growing very freely, and will therefore require frequent attention to keep them in order. The young shoots may be allowed to grow in a natural manner, merely preventing them from getting too much entangled, or growing into masses. Fuchsias.--When in a healthy-growing state they require an abundance of water and frequent syringings. Train them in the desired form, and pinch back all weak and straggling shoots. Heaths and New Holland Plants.--Examine them very carefully, and be sure that they are in a proper state as to moisture. The young plants which are not blooming will do best if placed in a pit where they can be exposed or not, as may appear necessary. To lay a proper foundation for a good specimen it is necessary to stop and to train the shoots into form. Kalosanthes.--Train them neatly, increase the supply of water, and give them liquid manure occasionally. STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE. Continue to shift the young and growing stock of stove plants. To harden the wood of the early-grown plants, or autumn or winter flowering, it is advisable to remove them to some cooler place, such as the shelves of the greenhouse. The baskets, in which the Stanhopeas will now be blooming, should be carefully examined to see that the buds, as they protrude, may not be injured by contact with the side. Many stove plants and Orchids in flower, if taken to a late vinery, or such intermediate house, will thus be prepared, in a short time, for removal to the conservatory during the summer. Climbers.--When the shrubby plants are large, the climbers hanging loosely give a sort of tropical character to the house; but, either hanging, or trained in wreaths or festoons, they require pruning and regulating, to prevent them becoming entangled, and, therefore, a confused mass of wood and foliage. FORCING-HOUSES. Cherries.--Give air night and day in fine weather. Figs.--When the ripest of the fruit is gathered, give the trees a good syringing overhead, to cleanse and refresh the leaves, and to keep down insects. Melons.--To be slightly shaded with a net, or a few pea-sticks, during bright sunshine in the middle of the day, to prevent the scorching of the leaves; for if such occurs, the fruit ripens prematurely, and is, in consequence, without flavour. Peaches.--When the fruit is ripening, give as much air as possible during the day, and when the nights are mild and warm leave the lights open. When the fruit in the succession-house is stoned, give a good watering to the roots, and syringe the trees frequently, as previously advised. Pines.--Apply an abundance of moisture to the pathways of the fruiting-house during bright weather. Give plenty of air, but allow at the same time the thermometer to range from 90 deg. to 95 deg.. Shut up when the rays of the sun are getting partially off the house, and ply the syringe freely about the leaves and stems of the plants, and the surface of the plunging material. Air to be given an hour or two afterwards for the night. Vines.--Keep thinning the berries and stopping the laterals as they advance, which, with syringing and giving air, is the principal work to be done.

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