84 THE GARDENER. [Feb. 



hotter the furnace is then the better, if much heat is required; because 

 whatever fuel is put on soon gets ignited, and there being no draught, 

 it lasts for hours without being consumed. Do not use the poker to 

 stir the fire when making up, but draw the fire together and beat it 

 down gently, and do not heap on too much fuel : shut both furnace- 

 doors tight, and adjust the damper so that there is just room for the 

 smoke to get slowly away. It is a very common custom to leave the 

 furnace-door open when made up for the night ; and when there is no 

 damper, or the ashpit-door defective, there is no other means of keep- 

 ing the fire in. But the cold air passing over the top of the fire is 

 bound to cool the boiler, and should therefore be avoided. A shovel- 

 ful of moist ashes thrown on the front of the fire in such cases is a 

 good plan to make sure of its not burning too fast. R. Inglis. 



SEASONABLE NOTES OF FLORIST FLOWERS 

 AND BEDDING PLANTS. 



Auriculas will again be on the move, and tlie first opportunity should 

 be taken to go over the stock and surface-dress those requiring it. 

 Young plants repotted in autumn we do not intend to surface- 

 dress, but will either give them manure-water or a little chemical 

 manure. To get offsets to take to the soil quickly, keep them for 

 a short while in a mean temperature of 55°. A compost of equal 

 parts loam and finely-broken-up cow-dung, to which a little coarse 

 sand and soot have been added, is suitable for surface-dressing. 



Pentstemons, if wanted extra strong, may now be lifted out of 

 the cutting-frame and potted into a rich compost : 5-inch pots are 

 a suitable size. Place them in a structure where they are safe from 

 frost. By the end of April, when planted out, they wall be splendid 

 plants, and produce extra-fine spikes of bloom. I tried some thus 

 last year, and intend to grow a few the same way again. Those left 

 in the cutting-frame will bloom later. 



Pansies may be propagated just now for producing a late crop of 

 fine blooms. Our Pansies are extra strong this year — larger than 

 they ought to be, in fact. 



Do not be tempted by fine weather to put out these, or other hardy 

 flowers, as Pyrethrums, Pinks, Picotees, tfec, for there is nothing 

 gained by putting them out before the end of March : they then get 

 quickly established, and escape the drying winds prevalent in March. 

 Do not be in a hurry to start Dahlias : cuttings struck in the end 

 of April produce the best blooms. Gladiolus are also either planted 

 or potted far too early. If they are got in about the middle of April, 

 it is quite early enough. The soil is then sufficiently warm to induce 

 rapid growth. Nor is there anything lost in earliness. Our stock 

 last year commenced — Shakespeare and others — to flower at the middle 

 of July, and we had a continuance of spikes till December. 



