Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/143

Rh specimens, and when it becomes necessary train out the side-shoots by means of neat sticks. Those intended for exhibition must have the branches brought close down to the rim of the pot, and be kept down as much as possible during the first year; but the growth of those intended for conservatory decoration will merely require tying out to admit a free circulation of air amongst the branches, and for securing a regular well-balanced outline when they are in flower. Upright growing plants with heads of bloom about twelve or fifteen inches in diameter are the most useful for the conservatory, and therefore excessive training must be avoided.

Remove them from the house when done flowering and place the pots upon a bed of coal-ashes, and if practicable shade them for a few days to allow the wood to become slightly hardened before they are exposed to the full influence of the sun. Henceforth they must have free exposure to the weather, and in a fortnight or three weeks the wood will be matured sufficiently to allow of their being cut down. The soil should also be kept as dry as it is possible to keep it without allowing the leaves to flag. In pruning, cut back the young shoots to within two or three buds of the old wood, according to their respective positions, but the chief aim must be to ensure a symmetrical appearance. In wet seasons they should be placed in a cold frame, and the lights drawn off at all times, excepting when they are required to protect the inmates from the rain. No water must be applied to the roots from the time they are cut down until the young growth is about halt an inch in length, but they will receive much benefit from a sprinkle overhead in the afternoon of a dry hot day. When the young growth has begun to push, turn them out of the pots, remove nearly if not quite all the old soil, trim the roots slightly, and put each in a pot one or two sizes smaller than it previously occupied. Water very sparingly until they are well established in the new soil. Even then, no more water must be applied than is absolutely necessary to maintain a steady growth. Early in September remove to the greenhouse for the winter, and the only attention required to keep them in health will be to supply them with water when necessary, and to keep the foliage free from green-fly.

Some time during January of the following year, repot all that require a shift into pots two sizes larger; that is, those occupying three-inch pots should be put into the six-inch size,