should be nipped out to prevent flowering until the plants are strong. To flower them well in the winter they must be in the full light in a warm house, for cold and damp will kill them.

The robust kinds of the Lobbianum section, such as Ball of Fire, make fine balcony plants for the sunny side of the house, but for the shady side there are no creepers to equal the Virginian vine and the ivy.

The tuberous-rooted species make fine trellis plants, and are occasionally grown on wire balloons in pots to adorn the conservatory. All these require a sandy soil, and during winter should be protected from damp. The hardiest of this series are T. edule, a strong growing plant with orange-coloured flowers, and T. tuberosum, with flowers yellow and red. If planted on a dry sandy soil near the shelter of a warm wall, these endure the winter without harm; but where the soil is loamy, or the situation cold and damp, the roots should be taken up and stored away in sand for the winter. The destruction of the tops by frost should be the signal for lifting them.