256 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



many readers by furnishing a front view or 

 section of the case at work, bo as to show the 

 escape of smoke from the lamp. Also would 

 his tinman siipply a few lamps of the same 

 make, which the Kditor would receive, pay for, 

 and distribute to readers who are not so fortu- 

 nate in securing the fulfilment of their wishes. 

 Will he render his description additionally 

 valuable by giving particulars of the form and 

 make of the boiler, its depth, capacity, etc. 

 Lobelia fulgens.— G. V. — If your plants are 

 in the open ground, take them up and pot them 

 in good fuchsia compost, with plenty of drain- 

 age. Keep them in a pit or greenhouse all 

 winter. They must never go quite dry, as they 

 are naturally marsh-growing plants. In spring, 

 when they begin to grow, divide them, and pot 

 afresh in very rich compost, and encourage 

 growth with extra warmth and moisture, and 

 either shift as they require it, or turn them out 

 in rich soil in June. 



ClNEKAEIA MAIilTIMA AND CERASTItJM. — B. U. — 



Cineraria maritima is a hardy plant, and on 

 elevated jiositions, where the soil is chalky, it 

 will survive the winter. But in gardens it is 

 generallytakeuup and potted, ^\ithUbcral drain- 

 age, and may be wintered in a frame or pit. 

 It may be propagated either by seeds or cut- 

 tings. The cuttings do not root quickly, but if 

 a thousand were put in there would not be the 

 loss of one, if in three parts sand, and only 

 kept moderately moist. We propagate it all 

 seasons without bottom-heat, but in Ai^ril is 

 the best time for novices. Cerastium tomen- 

 tosum may remain out all winter, and be taken 

 up in the spring and divided. If wanted in 

 quantities, the young lops may be struck either 

 with or without the help of heat. 



EosKS. — W. D. P. — Felicite perpetuelle, and all 

 other climbing roses, should be cut down close 

 in Februarj', so as to obtain a new and strong 

 growth from the stool every year, for the first 

 three years after planting. They will throw up 

 stronger and plumper shoots every time ; after 

 that the growth only need be regulated by cut- 

 ting out thin weak spray, and occasionally 

 removing an entire rod, to make way for a new 

 one. Lay on plenty of manure at pruning time, 

 and fork a little in about the roots. For the 

 communication, thauks. 



HBKBACEOtJS Flowehs. — 4. jT.— Atpp. 103, 137, 

 and 161 of the Feoeal Woeld for 1859, is a 

 complete list of hardy herbaceous flowers, 

 from which you can select with very little trou- 

 ble. In the" Gaeden Oracle for 1862 is a list 

 of 365 choice window flowers, which we are 

 vain enough to think worth more than the 

 shilling charged for the book. We cannot now 

 give the list you ask for but will tile your letter, 

 and think about it. 



JusTiTiA caknea, Eochea, and Spabaxis. — 

 C.J.X— This is a sfove plant, and to make 

 much of it in a greenhouse requires consider- 

 able skill. They must have liberal culture or 

 they will not flower, but in a starved state, and 

 at too low a temperature, they keep green and 

 look healthy. We did not advise it for a cool 

 house, and never included it among the plants 

 i-uitable for amateurs. Nevertheless, its pecu- 

 liarities may be accommodated with small 

 means. We' have just seen three fine plants of 

 Justitia coccinea that were cuttings last Feb- 

 ruary. They were rooted in a cucuinber-pit, 

 potted in thumbs in peat and put in a green- 

 house where tire s only used to keep frost out. 

 They had three s hifts'up to August, to sixties, 

 iheu to forty-eights, and last into seven-inch 

 pots, the soil being lumpy peat, half-rotten dung, 

 and loam, aboutequal parts. They are now show- 

 ing bloom all over, and only need a little more of 

 the same care to be fine specimens in February. 

 The house is a lean-to, and one of the hottest 



places all summer imaginable. These Justitias 

 were roasted with sun-heat, and kept from 

 shrivelhng by shading, syringing, and plenty of 

 water. Bochea falcaia requires a warm green- 

 house, soil broken bricks, sandy peat, and dung, 

 equal parts, plenty of water and full sun all 

 summer, and not a drop of water all winter. 

 Sparaxis will bloom to perfection in pots, grow 

 the same as Ixias, in rough peat, with a little 

 sand, and old sweet leaf-mould, say two-thirds 

 peat. They are nearly hardy, and will do very 

 well in a warm, dry border. When in pots 

 they should be kept cool, but safe from frost, 

 hence a pit is the best place for them. See 

 Flokal Wokld, 1859, p. 226. Thelovely Hoya 

 bella will do in any warm, airy greenhouse, i 

 in winter never lower than 4(J^, but 50' is a 

 safer minimum. During hot sunshine, shade 

 and in repotting use peat, loam, charcoal the 

 size of hazel-nuts, and pounded bricks, equa 

 parts, good drainage and plenty of water. 



Tkopjeolvms. — Amateur. — AVe said distinctly, 

 when the Tom Thumb race of tropoeolums were 

 first sent out, that they would never give satis- 

 faction as bedders, and they never have ; it 

 was not in the nature of the race either to pro- 

 duce apure scarlet, or a refined habit of growth ; 

 however, they have made many a place gay for 

 a trifle, and we must not condemn them as 

 worthless. What you want is plenty of the 

 best bloom the race is cajiable of, and you may 

 be content with Elegans and Triumph de 

 Hyris, which are two of the best bedding plants 

 in existence. Not bloom continuously ; why, we 

 have them loaded with as tine blooms now as in 

 July, and in one part of the garden, where ex- 

 cessive neatness is not of much consequence, 

 we have allowed to run beyond bounds, spread- 

 ing in all directions, with as many or more 

 blooms til an leaves upon them; they are such 

 desperate bloomers we had not the heart to 

 cut them in and spoil their joy. But it is another 

 matter if you grow them from seed. AVe de- 

 scribed last year the result of an experimental 

 culture of seeds of elegans, and those worth 

 keeping amounted to about ten per cent, of all 

 the plants, and even then there were none to 

 beat the parents. Get the sorts true, keepaplant 

 of each all winter, and let them bloom as they 

 like, and bloom they will ; take cuttings in 

 April, root them in bottom-heat, grow on till 

 turning-out time, in rather poor soil, and after 

 that the management, to do them as at Crystal 

 Palace, is an affair of finger and thumb. Cut- 

 tings of any kind|[root quickly, whether j'oung 

 tops, or stout stems cut into lengths, and they 

 bloom better for being struck late. 



Celeky Flt. — Tf. M., Clapham. — AVe are in the 

 same fix, the enemy has got the best of us. The 

 parent of this grub is called Tephritis onopor- 

 dinis; it is a beautiful two-winged fly, about the 

 size in wings and body of these lines I 



The eggs are deposited at various | 



times, from the end of May to the I 



end of July. The grubs now under | 



the cuticle of the leaves wiU descend into 

 the earth, and remain there all winter, to 

 come forth as flies next spring. The remedies 

 must turn upon the habits of the creature. 

 AA'heu depositing their eggs numbers may bo 

 caught by stretching a line, smeared with bird- 

 lime, over the plants, dusting the leaves of the 

 plants with soot, or any other substance harm- 

 less to the plant and obnoxious to insects. To 

 destroy the grubs, and be rid of that brood 

 next year, the leaves should be cut off at once 

 and burnt, and as the soil in which the celery 

 is now growing wiU be fidl of them all win- 

 ter, stir it frequently ; the birds will pick 

 out thousands, and the frost will kill thou- 

 sands more. A few of our pomponea are 

 attacked. 



