THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



151 



three leaves, prick them out into small 

 pots, in a similar light soil, adding a 

 little leaf-mould to nourish them ; and 

 as soon as they fill these small pots, 

 with roots, shift them to a size larger 

 and use the compost just described. 

 From this time seedlings and offsets 

 need the same treatment. If the 

 seed is really good, the seedling 

 plants will make the finest show at 

 blooming time : there is nothing like 

 sowing seed if you want variety in 

 florists' flowers; they come of all 

 colours in endless profusion, and they 

 have generally greater strength than 

 plants propagated from offsets or 

 cuttings. 



By this time "Jack Frost" will 

 be making an occasional morning 

 call, and your Cinerarias must be 

 prepared to pass through the winter 

 safely. Though these plants are 

 generally wintered in greenhouses, it 

 should be borne in mind that they 

 cannot stand any amount of heat ; in 

 fact, they winter best in a common 

 cold frame, well banked up with litter 

 or dry fern, to keep the frost from 

 penetrating at the sides and ends. 

 Give them a shift as they require it, 

 using always plenty of drainage, and 

 putting over the layer of broken pots 

 sonie of the rougher part3 of the 

 compost, to prevent the soil from 

 washing down and causing them to 

 be water-logged. There are few 

 things that root faster than the 

 Cineraria, so you must keep a sharp 

 look out to give them more room 

 as they require it. Every shift is a 

 slight check that causes the plant to 

 grow dwarf and compact, at the same 

 time the additional root-room given 

 strengthens the formation of the 

 trusses of bloom, which should ulti- 

 mately rise up in dense heads from 

 clos^-growing, broad-leaved, healthy- 

 looking plants. They are very brittle, 

 and in potting must be handled 

 tenderly, as every injury leads to 

 a loss of sap, which deteriorates 

 the plant and causes imperfect 

 blooming. 



When winter has fairly set in, 

 every necessary precaution must be 

 taken to prevent injury from frost. 



In severe weather the frames must be 

 covered with mats night and day, and 

 even litter or fern added to that, if 

 the frost should be intense ; for 

 though they repudiate heat, they also 

 flinch before frost, aud once seriously 

 attacked never recover. Every fine 

 day give air and light; but rather 

 than let frost into the frames, they 

 may be kept covered up for a fort- 

 night together; though, of course, 

 that is not advisable unless the case 

 is desperate. By having the plants 

 strong and healthy, and well aired 

 up to the last moment, and then kept 

 as dry and clean as possible, there 

 will be little fear of losses from frost, 

 if the precautions that we advise be 

 adopted in time. 



As soon as the first blush of 

 springs calls vegetation to its seasonal 

 renewal, bring your Cinerarias to 

 the greenhouse, and give them a cool 

 place very close to the glass. If you 

 have no greenhouse, let them remain 

 in the frames, or bring the forwardest 

 in-doors, to complete their growth 

 in the windows. Now the flower- 

 stems will push rapidly from your 

 healthy large-leaved plants. Those 

 that want opening and supporting 

 with sticks must be neatly banded; 

 but if for exhibition, all such supports 

 must be removed a day or two before 

 the show. A Cineraria should have a 

 solid truss, the flowers touching each 

 other, and forming one grand globular 

 mass of intensely bright colour. Each 

 individual flower should be nearly or 

 quite circular, and the less the florets 

 divide around the edge the better ; 

 in fact, a model flower should be as 

 completely circular as a florin, with 

 no visible indentations on. the edge, 

 the central disk measuring one-third 

 of the entire diameter, and the colour, 

 whatever it is, decided and brilliant. 

 Even finely-coloured flowers are apt 

 to come loose, and with deep divisions 

 between the florets. 



The following twelve are good — 

 Lord Elgin, Perfection, Conqueror, 

 Miss Franklin, Miss Eleanor, Regu- 

 lator, Viola, Admiral of the Blue, 

 Amy, Queen Bertha, Reynolds Hole, 

 Prairie Bird. 



