250 THE GARDENER. [June 



and this is often due, when grown in cold frames during the summer, 

 to a check sustained by being left too long when the nights have 

 become cold. If starved at that season of the year the roots soon 

 go, and then, when placed at once in heat, off goes the foliage — which 

 cannot be prevented — and no future treatment will produce fine bracts. 

 Celosias are amongst the most useful of flowering plants for win- 

 ter, but are too seldom grown for that purpose. Their easiness of 

 culture, combined with the lasting properties of their flowers, both 

 when cut and for decoration, make them well worth the time or trouble 

 that may be devoted to them. They will stand in a conservatory, where 

 the temperature ranges about 45° during winter, from the end of October 

 until the end of January or beginning of the following month. Their 

 beautiful plumes of gold and scarlet stand out well above other flowers, 

 and in plant-houses have an imposing effect. The only drawback in 

 the commencement of their cultivation is the spurious strain too 

 frequently obtained from purchased seed. This difficulty in a season 

 or two can soon be overcome by selection. If " anybody's " fine strain 

 is obtained and sown, every plant should be grown, and the bad ones 

 as they show themselves thrown away, and the best only retained. 

 It is questionable if more than one or two really fine plumes are 

 produced in the lot that are worth retaining for seed : many may 

 be good enough for decoration, until a really fine strain is selected. 

 As a rule, fine strains of Celosia produce but little seed ; the better 

 the plume the less seed it appears to bear, — such, at least, is my ex- 

 perience. The seed should be sown at once in a pan and lightly 

 covered with fine soil, placing the pan in heat in a shady position, and 

 covering it with a sheet of glass until the seeds germinate. When the 

 seedlings are large enough, they should be pricked off into other pans to 

 prevent them being drawn up weakly. After they have become estab- 

 lished in the pan, they should be grown close to the glass; and when 

 sturdy little plants are produced, they should be placed into 3-inch 

 pots, shading for a time until growth commences. They should 

 then be gradually hardened and subjected to more air, taking care that 

 they are not checked, or their progress will be considerably im- 

 peded. Good plants can be grown in 6 and 8 inch pots suitable for 

 all decorative purposes. The soil should be light, consisting of fibry 

 loam, rotten manure, and leaf-mould, Avith plenty of sand to keep the 

 whole porous. While growing, a good supply of water should be given ; 

 and when the pots are full of roots, stimulants may be freely applied. 

 Syringing should be attended to twice daily during hot weather, to 

 keep the plants free of red-spider. In September they must be 

 moved to a house where the temperature will not fall below 50° at 

 night. I have invariably found the plumes to be much finer and 

 brighter in colour when developed in heat during their latter stages, 

 and then gradually hardened again for the conservatory. 



Wii. Bardney. 



