it will fall off almost without touching it; and when this is the case, it will generally be found that there is a worm in the pot. Worms do a great deal of mischief to greenhouse plants in cutting through the roots, as their instinct teaches them to make their way through the earth straight across the pot and back again, and they cannot do this without tearing the roots asunder every time they pass.

Another point to be attended to in the management of a greenhouse is, keeping the plants as near as possible to the glass, as, unless this be done, the plants will become what gardeners call "drawn up," that is, they will be unnaturally tall and slender, from the efforts they make to reach the light.

As I have frequently mentioned repotting, I may as well tell you here the best mode of performing the operation. The pot to which the plant is to be removed should always have been previously washed quite clean, and be perfectly dry. Some bits of broken pots, called potsherds, should then be put at the bottom of the pot, the quantity varying from three or four pieces (so as just to cover the hole) to a mass an inch in depth, depending upon the nature of the plant. If the plant has not been in a pot before, the roots are then placed just above the potsherds, and the earth is filled in, the plant being occasionally

shaken so as to allow the earth to get amongst its roots. The soil is next consolidated by shaking the pot, and then lifting it up and setting it down again with a jerk; and is rendered firm and neat round the rim by means of a broad smooth piece of stick shaped somewhat like a table-knife, and called a potting-stick. When a plant has been in a pot before, and is repotted or shifted, as it is called, into a pot a size larger, the plant is turned out of its old pot by putting the hand upon the earth and turning the pot upside down; or, if the ball of earth does not come out readily, striking the rim of the pot against the edge of the potting-table or shelf. The ball containing the plant will thus drop out into the left hand; and the potsherds that adhere to the bottom of the ball having been picked off, and any part of the root that appears decayed having been removed, a little mould is put on the drainage in the new pot; and the ball of earth containing the plant having been placed in the centre, the space between it and the pot is filled in with light rich mould, and made firm with the potting-stick. The operation is concluded by shaking the pot, and then taking hold of the rim with both hands, and striking the bottom of the pot two or three times with a jerk against the potting-bench. The plant is then watered, and set in the shade for the remainder of the day.

Heaths are very difficult plants to manage; but a great improvement has taken place in their culture within the last few years. They are grown in what is called heath mould, that is, a mixture of peat and sand; and when this earth is put into the pot, it is mixed with good-sized entire pebbles, some of which are suffered to protrude through the surface of the soil. The roots of heaths are extremely fine and hair-like, and the shelter afforded by the pebbles is so congenial to them, that, if one of the stones be taken out, a cluster of fine, white, vigorous roots will be found below it. The plants are always potted high, so as to let the base of the stem be above the level of the rim of the pot, as the plants are very apt to damp off if the collar of the plant be buried in the ground. Heaths should never be suffered to become too dry, and never kept too wet. They require very little heat; and many experienced cultivators never apply fire-heat to their heatheries at all, but merely keep out the frost by having wooden shutters to the sashes, and covering them with mats. Heaths, when growing rapidly, should be repotted whenever the roots have filled the pot; but they should not be shifted too often; and, when they have attained their full growth, they may be suffered to remain in the same pots three or four years without injury.

As plants in the conservatory are grown in the

free soil, they are in a much more natural state than any plants can be in pots, and consequently they require much less care in their culture. There is usually a walk all round the conservatory, next the glass, and one down the middle, on each side of which are the beds containing the plants, and under which are placed the hot-water pipes that warm the house. The consequence of this arrangement is, that the beds on each side the middle walk are so planted as to have their highest shrubs in the centre, shelving down to those of lower growth on each side; and hence the centre is generally planted with tall camellias, acacias, metrosideros, eucalyptus, &c.; while near the walk are placed oleanders, myrtles, fuchsias of different kinds, together with chorozemas, and many of the other most ornamental New Holland plants; and up the pillars that support the roof are trained kennedyas, bignonias, ipomocas, and passion-flowers in great variety. Cliánthus puníceus and Polygala oppositifòlia ought to find a place in every conservatory; and a plant of Wistària sinensis may be trained under the rafters so as to afford shade to the camellias; as, under shelter, the wistaria will flower twice in the year, and its flowers will yield a delightful, though very delicate, fragrance.

As it is of the greatest importance to the health of the plants to have the soil in a conservatory

well drained, many persons form the beds by excavating pits of the proper size, about two feet and a half deep, and put at the bottom a layer of brickbats, stones, and other materials for drainage, about six inches thick. On this is deposited a thin layer of coarse rough gravel; and on the gravel a layer of rich mould, which should be about two feet thick in the centre of the bed, where the largest shrubs are to be planted, and shelving off to about sixteen or eighteen inches at the sides next the walks. All the sashes should be made. to open, and there ought to be large glass doors in front, which should generally stand open during the day in summer, in order to admit as much air as possible.

In some places a movable frame is contrived for a conservatory, into which sashes fit in winter, and which, in severe weather, is covered with tarpauling, made to pull down, like a blind, from a roller along the ridge of the roof; the whole frame being so contrived as to be entirely removed in summer. The upright posts of this frame are let into holes in the ground, like the posts in a drying-ground, so that when the posts are taken out, the holes may be stopped up with wooden plugs with rings attached; and the roof and horizontal pieces fit into each other, and into the uprights, the whole being kept firm by bolts. When a conservatory of this kind is to be removed for