Flowers in winter, is now a great aim, and it has got to be in a measure anything so that it be flowers. The great variety of beauty which flowers afford is seldom thought of, and if we have Roses, Bouvardias, Carnations, Heliotropes, and, if one desires to be a little more aristocratic, a few Orchids, it is about the extent of our demands. Still, these are sweet and pretty, and the small list is perhaps due to the cheapening process which will give us a whole houseful of one thing for much less figures than we can grow a great variety in one house. A great mixture demands great skill, but a house of one kind is so easily mastered in its details that any smart boy can soon be taught to successfully manage it. But even in these simple processes experience is a great help. As noted, any smart boy can soon be taught to grow Roses, but there is a very great art in knowing how to grow winter Roses well, and it is those who succeed in growing these winter flowers to the greatest perfection that make the most money if they are commercial florists, or get the most pleasure if they be chiefly amateurs whose profit is in the pleasure that gardening affords.

In offering hints for successfully growing winter flowers, a difficulty arises from the varying circumstances and situations of each grower. It is impossible to give detailed descriptions of houses, or of practice suited to each, but there are general principles that are everywhere recognized by experienced flower culturists, and these must serve for "Seasonable Hints".

For one, we can remember that the brighter and more direct the sunlight the more flower. Hence it is a good thing to have the slope of the glass as nearly at a right angle with the sun's rays as possible. And we want all the light we can get, sunlight direct, or reflected light if no other.

Air or ventilation is not regarded as of so much consequence as it was once thought to be, and houses with full flowers all winter are often kept with sashes all closed. Fresh air for all growing purposes seems to find its way in through chinks and crevices. Still we fancy good growers will yet arrange for an abundance of fresh air if they can get it warm enough. Roots like fresh air, and this is one effect of watering. The bad, exhausted air is driven out every time water is poured into the soil, and when the water goes out fresh air follows. Hence a soil that dries rapidly - that wants water often, is much better than one that needs little moisture. And so we like soil rather shallow in the benches or pots, and well drained. On the other hand, soil that is often watered, soon becomes poor. The rich material is washed out; so that, to have fine flowers, guano or other concentrated manure may be frequently applied to the surface.

In mixed houses, where so much enjoyment is to be reached, much the same hints may be given in a general way. But there are more matters of detail requiring attention. In taking up things from the ground for potting, care should be taken to have the pots well drained, with pieces of potsherds over the hole. The more rapidly water passes through the soil the better plants will grow. Pots could be made without holes, and the water would all go through the porous sides in time; but that is too slow a way, so we make a hole to admit of its more rapid escape, and we place the broken pots over the hole to make a vacuum, which assists the objects of the hole. In very small pots, or with plants which have strong enough roots to rapidly absorb all the moisture they get, and speedily ask for more, "crocking" is not necessary.

There is quite an art in lifting plants from the open ground into pots, if they are to go on and bloom all the winter time. It will not do to let the leaves wilt much, or they will not get up again. They have to be taken with reasonable ball, put into the smallest possible pot, well watered at once, and placed temporarily where the drying air will not draw the moisture from the leaves. The florist who has to lift Bouvardias or Chrysanthemums from the open ground to benches in the greenhouse, so as to have them in flower all winter, keeps the greenhouse closed, for a few days, so that the moisture cannot get out. He syringes, to add to the atmospheric moisture, and even shades the glass, for it is now known that light is as great an evaporator of water as heat itself. One with a few plants need not go to all this trouble, but can apply the lesson from the larger scale to the smaller one.

Bulbs for flowering in pots should be placed at once. Four or five-inch pots are suitable. One Hyacinth and about three Tulips are sufficient for each. After potting, plunge the pots over their rims in sand under the greenhouse stage, letting them remain there until the pots have become well filled with roots, before bringing them on to the shelves to force.

All that we have so far written has been with the view of getting plenty of flowers with an abundance of light. But in room gardening light cannot always be had, and fortunately there are plants like Begonias, Oxalis, Tradescantias or Spiderworts, that flower with little sun, and then there are numerous shade-loving plants with leaves as pretty as any flowers.