iSyi.] A FEW WORDS ABOUT CINERARIAS. 217 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT CINDER ART AS. 



^f^EXT to Chinese Primroses, Cinerarias are perhaps the most useful 

 winter and spring flowering greenhouse plants in general cultivation. 

 By sowing the seeds at different times, they may be had in bloom all 

 the year round, but from November to May is the time they display 

 their greatest charms, and are of most value to the cultivator. They 

 deserve better treatment than is generally bestowed upon them, 

 and few plants better repay a little extra attention to their peculiar 

 requirements. 



Clean well-grown plants remain a considerable time in bloom ; and 

 where cut flowers are in request, they are very useful for cutting from. 

 Nice little plants in 6-inch pots look very well in combination with 

 Ferns, and are handy for filling large vases in entrance-halls, rooms, 

 &c. The preservation of the foliage in a clean healthy condition is 

 the only difficulty in their culture. If from any cause the foliage is 

 destroyed, the plants are useless for decorative purposes. To preserve 

 it in a healthy state, the plants must never be allowed to suffer for 

 want of water ; they must be kept clear of insect life, and never ex- 

 posed to currents of dry hot air rising from hot-water pipes or flues. 



Of insect life, thrip and greenfly are the most troublesome. Fumi- 

 gation with tobacco is the best remedy for their destruction, and as 

 soon as they are observed should at once be applied, taking care that 

 the foliage is quite dry, and the atmosphere of the house, or w^hatever 

 structure the plants are in, is in as dry a state as possible. If this is 

 not attended to, the foliage is apt to suffer from the efi'ects of the 

 tobacco smoke. 



The maggots alluded to by W. H. in the April number of the 

 ' Gardener ' are some years very troublesome, and, unless their ravages 

 are stopped, soon destroy the beauty of the foliage. They are partial 

 to the leaves of healthy, well-grown plants, and infest them in all 

 stages of their growth. There is no remedy, so far as I know, for 

 their destruction, but picking them out of the leaves with a common 

 pin or point of a pen-knife. They are easily seen by turning up the 

 leaves and examining the under sides of them, and if picked out soon 

 after their first appearance, they do very little harm. 



The common practice at present is to raise Cinerarias from seed, 

 and some gardeners recommend the first sowing to be made in March ; 

 but if the plants are not wanted to flower until the New Year, the 

 first week in May is time enough to sow the seeds. A second sowing 

 in July will supply plants to bloom in March and April. In prepar- 

 ing the seed-pan, be careful to have it properly drained. Use loam 

 and leaf-mould in equal parts, adding as much sand as will keep it 



