THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 163 



golden zonals together — as, for example, to apply tlie pollen of 

 Snnset to the stigma of YeUovj Belt. When we say the cultivator 

 should cross every way, it must be understood that he should do so 

 with judgment, and keep in mind always a rule which recent care- 

 fully-conducted experiments have confirmed as applicable to the 

 case — that the seed parent usually has most influence on the form of 

 the flowers and the leaves ; and the pollen parent usually has most 

 influence on the colour of the flowers and the leaves. To a certain 

 extent, however, the characters of both parents are usually blended 

 in the oftspring ; this, also, has been amply proved by long-continued 

 and carefully-contrived experiments. 



The cultivation of these plants is pretty well understood by the 

 gardening community ; but for all that, a few practical remarks 

 may be useful to some of our readers. The whitish or silvery kinds 

 difler most materially in their requirements ; for the first a com- 

 paratively poor soil, with rather scant supplies of water, are conditions 

 favourable to a free development of their characteristic beauty. 

 For the second a comparatively rich soil and more liberal supplies of 

 moisture are required to insure vigorous growth and abundance of 

 colour. But let there be no mistake ; even golden zonals must not 

 be grown in ground just fit for cauliflowers, or have as much water 

 as would suit celery. As a rule, when bedded out, neither class 

 need ever be watered at all, except at the first start, in the event of 

 droughty weather occurring before they have made new roots in 

 their new positions. A good loam, moderately enriched with leaf- 

 mould and rotten hot-bed manure, is the kind of soil in which golden 

 tricolors, and all other kinds in which yellow, red, and brown tints 

 prevail, will thrive to admiration. And for the matter of that, the 

 silvery kinds will thrive in the same sort of soil ; but there are two 

 reasons for selecting an elevated position, and a rather poor soil with 

 a good proportion of broken brick and sand for silver zonals. In 

 a rich soil, the plants acquire considerable vigour, the green central 

 part of the leaf grows faster than the margin, and the leaves become 

 wrinkled and cupped, and they then hold the dust, and instead of 

 rain washing them clean, it makes them more dirty. Another 

 reason for giving them a rather poor soil, is that vigour of growth 

 imparts to the zone increased blackness, and this mars the silvery 

 eftect, subdues their proper glitter, and makes them appear dirty 

 when perhaps they are perfectly clean. These points must be kept 

 in view by the cultivator who desires complete success ; and it need 

 not be added, that lull exposure to sunshine is an essential condition 

 to the fullest possible production of colour. 



In wintering these plants small pots should be employed, a rather 

 poor soil, containing an abundance of grit, and the plants should 

 be kept close to the glass, and have only so much fire-heat as will 

 suflace to keep them safe i'rom frost. Excessive heat, distance from 

 the light, insufBciency of air, and too much pot-room are the 

 prevailing causes of failure. They should be carefully repotted i:i 

 the latter part of February, or early in March, and the soil for Llie 

 golden-leaved varieties should consist of good mellow loam and 

 thoroughly rotten hot- bed manure equal parts, and to every peck of 



