Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/247

 who learn much about nature and her laws by watching the gradual development of each little root. To make soil for potting fuchsias, mix in equal proportions good loose loam, well rotted cow or sheep manure, and river or creek sand. Either fill pots with this, or make a bed in which to grow your fuchsias. In the latter case it will be most effective to raise the earth at the back, making it like a sloping bank. If you pot them you must watch for the roots appearing through the hole at the bottom, as then they must be transplanted into larger pots at once. Place your pots on a stand or board, or if on the ground sprinkle a layer of wood ashes first, to prevent worms penetrating to the pots. They must be protected from hot sun and rough or strong winds, either by erecting calico frames, or what is far better, glass frames. On dull or wet days, and during the warm calm nights they should be moved out. The fuchsia can be trained to almost any shape, but the one that best shows off the blossoms should be chosen. If you do not train against a frame the plants must be tied up to neat light stakes when they are about six inches high, or they are apt to straggle too much. You can pinch off the tops of the lateral growths to make them branch, but all this must be done quite a month before you expect them to flower. Care must be taken in watering, and not too much given, especially to newly potted plants. When the buds begin to show, liquid manure can be given with advantage, but not too often. Look over your plants every morning for grubs, spiders, and other insects. The little spiders do a lot of harm to fuchsias, often causing the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. If they get infested with insect life tobacco smoke blown in among the leaves is the best remedy. When finished flowering, place them in a sunny position to ripen their wood for next year, and give very little water, as you do not want to make wood now, but only to ripen and strengthen it for next year's flowering. When all the leaves have fallen, let the plants rest for a couple of months, and then prune into shape. If you have a bed as well as a stand it is well to plant out the older ones and keep the young ones on the stand. In many parts of the colonies the fuchsia grows well in the open garden with no more attention than the other plants receive. What is said here about the fuchsia will apply to all plants of the same family.

In growing flowers the first and foremost consideration must be the selection of those that are best adapted to the climate and situation, for it is useless to try and grow flowers simply because one is fond of them, if the aspect of the garden is not, suitable. One cannot grow snow drops in Queensland any more than one