THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



141 



the plants in flower, put up a shading of 

 tiffany or Haythorn's hexagon net ; the latter 

 will also be useful to exclude bees and 

 wasps, for flowers on which bees have 

 settled perish sooner than those they have no 

 access to, owing to their disturbing the pollen, 

 and causing a formation of seed-pods. A 

 method of prolonging the bloom of flowers, 

 and, in the opinion of some, increasing their 

 beauty, is, to get some dissolved gum arabic, 

 and a camel's hair-brush. The brush is 

 dipped in, and the centre of every flower 

 touched with the gum, where it forms a 

 bright bead, and prevents the distribution of 

 the pollen. Of course, the flowers should be 

 touched soon after they open, or nature may 

 have accomplished her end before the pre- 

 ventive is brought into operation. It is 

 important to keep the first blooms on spe- 

 cimen azaleas, pelargoniums, &c, in this 

 way, so as to get the whole plant covered 

 by the time the later blossoms open. Pelar- 

 goniums done blooming should be cut in ] 



and allowed to break before repotting. They 

 should be kept rather dry, so as to break 

 slowly, and when potted into small pots, put 

 in a cold frame, and kept close, till they begin 

 to make fresh root, when they must have 

 plenty of light and air. Cinerarias done 

 blooming, may be propagated by side shoots 

 and suckers ; if the plants are turned out on 

 a border, and heaped round the collar with 

 sandy loam, they will throw out suckers 

 which may afterwards be slipped off with a 

 portion of root attached. The time is now 

 arriving for clearing out the house, and giv- 

 ing it any necessary clearing arid repairs, 

 and cold frames should be provided in good 

 time to receive those plants that are not to 

 be turned out of their pots for the summer. 

 Stove. — Liberal waterings must now be 

 given, and abundance of air, especially among 

 hard- wooded plants. Pines, same treatment 

 as last month. New Holland plants should 

 be encouraged to grow, and liberal shifts 

 given as required. 



HER MAJESTY'S FRUIT BASKET. 



There is always one trouble on dear I 

 Belinda's mind, when she determines to 

 sally forth in quest of strawberries or wall- 

 flowers — she has nothing thoroughly appro- 

 priate in which to place them. To carry a 

 plate or a dish is ugly ; to put them in her 



cross pieces to serve as feet, so that you can 

 put it down on grass or gravel, without fear 

 of wetting or soiling it, and beautified all 

 over with sparkling, silver-headed nails. 

 Here it is, in rough outline, as made for the 

 Queen, by Messrs. Gidney, of East Dereham, 



pretty apron only huddles them up and spoils 

 them", and after all, "a lapful" is not a 

 lady-like quantity. 



Then why not follow the example of Her 

 Gracious Majesty, and have a basket of 

 snow-white wood, elegantly braced with 

 band3 of the same material, mounted on 



Norfolk, and since adopted by many of the 

 flowers of the fashionable world, as a proper 

 accompaniment in a ramble through the 

 shrubberies and fruit rows. You may have 

 them of any size, and at any price, from a 

 shilling to half a sovereign, and they are 

 known as Gidney's Truck Baskets. 



