The following has been my mode of growing the Poinsettia Pulcherrima for the last two years, and, according to my opinion, with the best possible success. I have read in many publications of the day various statements of its management, and have not yet seen good specimens of it The Poinsettia is a fine old plant, introduced from Mexico about 1834. Its true flowers are a mere nothing, but the floral leaves that surround its flowers at the point of the young shoots, are of the brightest tints, and on this account the plant is much admired. Another fact enhances its value - it comes into beauty for the greenhouse when other plants are out of bloom. The Poinsettia has its faults and failings; it is decidedly of a bad habit, and this probably prevents many bestowing that particular attention the culture of the plant requires.

The two extremes of heat and cold I have seen resorted to. Some say bottom heat is necessary, while others declare the contrary. One writer will say place it in the stove, others that stove temperature frustrates the end in view; others, again, that a greenhouse is the only situation where we can obtain a stiff, sturdy, short-pointed growth. Amidst all those opinions, perhaps a middle course would suit the purpose.

After the plants are done flowering, cut them down, and the shoots are available for cuttings. These I cut into short lengths, each piece having two eyes. • Cut horizontally under the lowest eye or bud. After the cuttings are made, place them on a shelf or any other dry place, for two or three days, to dry. They may then be placed in a pan, or pot, well drained, say two-third broken crocks, over this a little sphagnum, if at hand, then filled to the top with equal parts of silver sand and peat, passed through a fine sieve - the whole pressed into the cutting-pot, so as to give it solidity, and exclude the air from the base of the cuttings. The cuttings to be inserted about one half their depth, plunged in a brisk bottom heat and shaded from the sun. They will root in from four to five weeks, when pot them off into three-inch pots; one in each pot. Keep warm and moist until they have taken in the fresh soil; they should then be gradually exposed to a situation where they will have the benefit of more air, with all the sunshine you can give them, and still they require to be kept tolerably warm; syringed in the afternoon when the weather permits. As soon as they have comfortably filled their pots with roots, prepare for their final shift.

I would recommend loam two parts (fibre if possible), peat one part, rotten dung half part, and as much sand as will make the compost appear greyish; a portion of brick rubbish, to keep the whole open and porous - eight-inch pots for their final shift. Get as many of these together as your demand requires, drain them carefully, taking the precaution to have a good outlet for the water; on this much depend the health of your plants.

Bring the plants to your potting bench, and place five of your plants in one of your pots, previously prepared; one plant in the centre of your pot and four round the edges, being so situated that the? fresh compost will cover an inch of the ball, each one inch deep. Be careful to fill up all the crevices around with fresh soil. In this way proceed until you have the desired number of pots filled; place them in the wannest part of the greenhouse. If placed in the stove for a few days it will be advantageous to them, as it causes them to shoot once more into active growth. For those who do not command a stove, a greenhouse will answer, by placing them first in the warmest part of it, and gradually introducing them to more air and light. Be careful and avoid much water after repetting. Water with a fine rose for a few days, until the plants begin to make root, when water may be increased as they get established.

Place a neat stick to each shoot, the centre one upright and the others leaning a little outwards; to these fasten the shoots as they advance in growth, but on no account stop them. In the fall they are kept much drier and more airy than in summer, which causes the wood to ripen well, and, as a consequence, they will flower most beautifully in the winter months. Cut down the following spring to one eye. There are several invisible buds round the base of each shoot; they will probably push in many places. When this is accomplished, turn them out of the pots, gently removing a portion of the old bulb or soil. Be careful not to break up the old bulb. Place them in ten-inch pots, using some compost, as previously recommended. Treat them as in previous seasons, and I will venture to say the cultivator of them will be richly rewarded with good specimen plants - if not as single specimens, at least with a clump of the Poinsettia which will attract the eye.