:314 THE GARDENER. [July 



A FEW REMARKS ON THE CULTURE OF THE 

 CinSTERARIA FROM SEED BY AN AMATEUR. 



It is now two years past in ^larcli last since I became the proud pos- 

 sessor of a small greenhouse 10 feet by 10. For a year previous to 

 that I had a one-light frame, and although I found it a good deal 

 better than to have nothing in which to try and preserve a few of 

 those garden plants that are too tender to endure with impunity the 

 icy embrace of stern winter, yet I determined to give a little scope to 

 ambition, and the result was the greenhouse above mentioned. 



Having got this, I next made preparations for having a slight hot- 

 bed in which to sow seeds of such things as Cineraria, Calceolaria, and 

 even Cockscomb. Having got a pit dug 2 J feet deep the size of my 

 frame, I sent to a tanyard in a neighbouring town and obtained two 

 loads of bark that had been for a short time out of the tan-pit, and 

 that, consequently, w^as not very hot. Having put it in the pit, and 

 set the frame over it, I considered that all things were now ready for 

 sowing seed and making an attempt to raise a few plants for the shelves 

 of my small greenhouse. One of the seed-pans I sowed with Ciner- 

 aria : and I now proceed to record my experience in the growth of this 

 plant ; and I have to crave the indulgence of any " practicals " who 

 may read these lines for any mistakes I may make, begging them to 

 remember that I am giving the results arrived at by an amateur. 



The soil in which the Cineraria-seed was sown was composed of 

 well-decomposed leaf-mould, a little well-rotted stable-manure, mould 

 from rotted turf, and some sand — all mixed together, but not in any 

 particular proportion. In a few days after sowing the seed, I had the 

 pleasure of seeing the young plants breaking through the soil, and day 

 by day I watched with eager eyes their development. When water 

 was required at this early stage, it was given by means of a syringe 

 with a very fine rose, and so used as to make the w^ater fall in a very 

 gentle shower on the tiny seedlings. By-and-by, as soon as these had 

 four leaves, I pricked them out as carefully as I could in another pan, 

 and kept the frame pretty close for a few days. In a very short time 

 the plants had acquired sufficient strength to be potted off singly in 

 small pots in soil the same as was used for sowing, but with the addi- 

 tion of a little more of the rotted manure. In this soil they grew very 

 fast, and as soon as the roots had reached the sides of the pots the 

 plants were shifted into a size larger. Occasionally a little weak 

 guano-water was given, which had the effect of making the plants 

 grow very vigorously and with leaves of a large size. With this 

 treatment they were, by the month of August, in their blooming-pots, 

 and some were pushing for bloom. All this time (from the end of 



