100 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



moment — that is, when the heat is going down from the first rush, and is not 

 more than 100°. Spread over the bed some clean dry straw, not hay, for that is apt 

 to go mouldy ; and thereafter keep the bed moderately rroist, but never wet, and as 

 far as possible let the atmosphere be close, damp, and averaging 55° to 70°. Gene- 

 rally speaking, water never need be given until after the first gathering of mush- 

 rooms has been made ; but this will depend on the degree of moisture of the stuff 

 when the bed is made : the experienced cultivator will take care to have it moist 

 enough in the first instance to last five weeks, and will then expect to find the bed 

 smothered with young mushrooms. In gathering, take them clean out of the soil ; 

 the practice of leaving the root in, with a view to disseminate fresh spawn, is bad, 

 for it attiacts several kinds of hies, and these soon fill the bed with maggots, 

 and it encourages snails and wood-lice, which are a? fond of mushrooms as we are. 



Pjeonies and Pyrethrums. — W. W. — There is still time to buy and plant, 

 though the autumn is preferable. Your position, climate, etc., are all that these 

 tilings require to do well ; the fact is, they are first-rate flowers for the suburbs of 

 towns. Since your ground is well drained, you may reasonably expect to grow 

 peonies, pyrethrums, dahlias, and hollyhocks well. We cannot advise you whether 

 to buy the cheapest or the dearest kinds ; you are the best judge of your own 

 purse; but the most expensive kicds are as hardy as the cheapest, and occasion no 

 more trouble to grow them well. 



Flowers. — Miss B. — The following are good subjects for a London garden : 

 Chrysanthemums, Pyrethrums, (Enothera Fraseri, Iberis sempervirens, Alyssum 

 saxatile, common white Lily and Martagon Lily, Solomon's Seal, Achillea millefolia 

 rosea, Achillea ptarmica, Spirea filipendula, herbaceous Pteonies, Dielytra spec- 

 tabilis, Everlasting Pea, Veronica spicata, Campanula carpatica, Campanula per- 

 sicifolia, Campanula nobilis, Tiadescantia Virginica, Centranthus rubra, Hemero- 

 callis flava, Helianthus angustifolius, Helianthus laetiflorus, Lysimachianummularia, 

 Sedum acre, Sedum fabarium, Sempervivum moutanum. These are all good things, 

 and will grow and flower well wherever they can get a bit of sunshine. They may 

 all be obtained in pots or tufts from the open ground at a nursery where hardy 

 plants in any great variety are kept. We can advise you of a few hundreds more, 

 hut perhaps these will suffice for the present. Any that you determine to have, 

 procure and plant at once. 



Unhealthy Zonal Pelargoniums. — An Amateur Groiver. — The plants that 

 are affected like the sample sent, have for months past been in a bad state at the 

 roots. Probably the drainage has been choked by worms, and during the miserable 

 March and April the soil was becoming more and more satuiated and sour. Shake 

 them out, prune back the roots a little, and repot them, using an extra bed of crocks 

 and an extra quantity of sand, and put them on a hot sunny shelf, where they will 

 no doubt recover in a few weeks. 



Annuals for Cold Soil. — W. O. S. — The best annuals for a cold clay are the 

 showy Californian kinds, sown in pans in a pit or frame, or on a gentle hotbed, and 

 planted out when the ground is warm. If you grow Oxalis rosea, Hunnemannia, 

 Nemophila maculata, Leptosiphon, or Fenzlia dianthiflora, or Ipomers, get them 

 forward in pans, and do not plant them out till May. Give preference to the crim- 

 son, purple, and white Candytufts, Nemophila insignis, Campanula speculum, 

 Venus's Navel-wort, Silene armeria, Kaulfussia amelloides, Yiscana oculata, Gilea 

 rosea, Escholtzia crocea, and pceony Poppy. 



Celosia pyramidalis. — ir". Johnson.— To start the seeds quickly, a bottom-heat 

 of 80' to 90" is necessary ; sow the seed thinly, but directly the plants are up place 

 them close to the glass, and give air freely to keep them dwarf. As soon as the 

 plants are sufficiently strong, pot them off into " thumbs," and give them a bottom- 

 heat of 80° at the least, a moist atmosphere, and as much air night and day as the 

 heat of the frame, pit, or house, will admit of, always bearing in mind that the night 

 temperature should not fall much below 60°, while in the daytime a brisk moist heat 

 rising to 80' or 90", with sun-heat and moistuie, will not be too much. As the pots 

 fill with roots, shift into those of a larger size. Fine plants may be grown in 

 eleven-inch pots, but if you wish to attain the fullest perfection, thirteen or fifteen- 

 inch pots will be necessary. Soil, sandy loam and very rotten dung, and use 

 manure-water pretty freely. 



