DEUTZIA GRACILIS ranks with Spiraea japonica as a familiar plant of the most useful character, and one which is grown in immense quantities for the supply of the flower markets. The cultivators who supply the markets in this country usually obtain supplies of both these plants from Holland, where they are grown for this particular purpose in the open ground, mostly in the alleys and trenches between the beds of hyacinths and tulips. They are thus in the nature of what gardeners call "stolen crops"--that is, they are run in between other things, and occupy places where a severe routine would forbid the planting of anything whatever. But all the important business pertaining to the beds of bulbs is over by the time the deutzias and spiraeas are planted; and by an accommodating practice in respect of weeding, &c., room is found for these in the narrow alleys that are left for access to the plantations.

These plants are generally regarded as tender; but the outdoor culture in Holland will suggest to the reader that they are hardy. As a matter of fact they are so, but need a little coaxing to enable them to endure the vicissitudes of an English spring.

Deutzia gracilis is often purchased when in flower, and being then fresh from the forcing-house, it requires to be carefully comforted in the parlour or the greenhouse. When the flowering is past, deutzias are usually kept in the greenhouse, or are put on a window-sill, where the hot sun will roast them by day and the frosty wind blow the life out of them at night. Plants that have been forced require to be gradually hardened, so as to endure the free air without a shock. The forced deutzias should therefore be taken care of, and have more and more air as the season advances, with only moderate supplies of water (for this is not so thirsty a plant as the spiraea), and as the weather opens in the early part of May they should be put out of doors in a sheltered corner. There they may remain until the middle or end of the month, having a little water occasionally to prevent distress; and in the event of frost they should be taken indoors again, or have suitable shelter to prevent any injury.

We have now reached the later days of May, and the deutzias should be planted out in the open ground. You will, perhaps, in view of a fine crop of flowers the next spring, find a piece of rich soil for them. But that is the very thing you should not do. Put the plants in an open, sunny situation, on the poorest and most stony soil you can find. First prune them a little, very little, to give them a neat shape; then turn them out of the pots carefully, loosen the ball tenderly to shake out some of the old soil, and plant them far enough apart to allow for free growth without crowding. Should cold weather follow, put large pots or baskets over them at night; water moderately until they begin to grow freely, and then give not another drop all through the season. You are to observe that a moderate growth is required; a very strong growth is of no use, for the flowers will not come out of the fat shoots, but out of the wiry ones that are short and branchy, and perfectly ripened. At the end of September lift them, prune back any ungainly rods, but use the knife as little as possible, for there is a charm in the form Nature gives a plant that no effort of art can equal. Pot them in any kind of soil that is fresh and gritty, and in as small pots as you can cram the roots into without cramping or needing to reduce them in any great degree.

The rest is a matter of simple greenhouse management. The plant is easily forced, but it will bloom early and finely with the aid of the ordinary shelter of a pit or greenhouse, and will even bear a slight touch of frost. But a warm greenhouse, properly managed, never admits the frost, and we are not to think of such a contingency in the flowering of this delicate beauty.

Pot culture throughout the year is a simple matter. When the flowering is over, the longest shoots should be slightly shortened, but severe pruning is not to be thought of. When the new shoots have grown about an inch in length, turn the plants out of the pots, remove the potsherds and some of the old soil and any roots that are matted, taking care not to multilate the roots roughly, and re-pot in pots of the same size as before, or in pots one size larger. A rich soil is not needed, but a sweet gritty loam should be used, with carefully-packed drainage, and the pots should never be larger than suffices for moderate summer growth. From the end of May to the end of August the plant should be out of doors, and have regular watering with pure water only, liquid manure being likely to cause a rank growth inimical to the production of flowers.