20 THE GARDENER. [Jan. 



ject than it can find room for — all invoking vengeance on the head of the culprit, 

 we apprehend ; but the same paper, while repudiating the conduct of the de- 

 linquent in strong terms, hints that after all is said and done, making up 

 "Chrysanthemum blooms " in the way described and "dressing" Carnations 

 and Picotees, as is the custom among exhibitors, are practices which may not 

 differ greatly under certain circumstances. We are of opinion that the party 

 who discovered the fraud did a real service in exposing the same to the 

 Secretary, but having done that, and drawn attention to it in the press once, 

 his duty ended there. To the delinquent we say, as 'Punch' said, "Good 

 boy, don't do it again," PvEADER. 



MIGNONNETTE FOR WINTER FORCING. 



As the cultivation of Mignonnette for winter forcing is a work that 

 demands prospective attention, I have chosen the subject as one 

 likely to be both agreeable and interesting to many readers of ' The 

 Gardener ' at the commencement of the new year. 



Who is it that does not admire a Rose-bud in December ? or that 

 does not wish for the return of their favourite garden companions 1 

 Amongst which the object of the present paper takes a leading place — 

 forcing Mignonnette. The term is significant, as if the winter culture 

 of this esteemed annual should be exclusively the business of the 

 professional gardener ; this, however, need not necessarily be so, 

 wherever there is a single vinery or greenhouse where a mean tempera- 

 ture of 50° can be maintained. 



There are several varieties of Mignonnette, some of which are 

 worthless for forcing, but there are also many excellent strains that 

 can be procured from any respectable seedsman who has an eye to the 

 popularity and enhanced value of genuine novelties in florists' seeds. 

 The writer has found nothing better than that sold under the name of 

 Parson's Tree Mignonnette ; and Miles's Hybrid Spiral is also giving 

 great satisfaction. The latter is better adapted for growing in small 

 pots ; the habit is dwarf, and the flower-stalk is of more than ordinary 

 length. Approved strains of the former are well fitted for covering 

 trellises as taste may desire. 



Speaking, or rather writing, of training, I do not think it is a 

 writer's duty to dogmatise on any particular form of training, as 

 gardening is either a pleasure or it is nothing, therefore every one 

 should have a right to please their own fancy, although I would like 

 to see nature have more of her own way at times. Umbrella-shaped 

 standards find favour with exhibitors ; and the pyramid form is also 

 popular. I adopt it with a few plants, but prefer the natural or bush 

 form which, when neatly done, presents no mean appearance amongst 

 a general collection of plants, and, unlike those formal heads or cones 

 that look as if they had been clipped with shears, are suitable for a 



