106 



THE GARCENERS MOXTIII. } 



lAprir, 



hi'tttT inctliod lliaii t(i lut biU'k tlic {'xtremitics 

 of the shoots sunu' oi<:lit iiu-hes, and loosen 

 the soil around the plants and in between 

 (luh layer, by means of a pointed stick or 

 iron. Then adding one gallon of manure 

 water to eacli i)lant once a week. Should 

 this licjuid be ijiconvenient. guano Avould 

 answer the same purpose by adding one 

 jiound and a half to twenty gallons of water. 

 This niixturr will be sutricicntly strong for a sin- 

 gle watering each week, and continue this opera- 

 tion until the jilants produce a clean and healthy 

 growth, which by the middle of October will give 

 just the style of cutting that is required. Now 

 the propogation begins. I may here state that 

 great importance is attached to the necessity of 

 taking otVthe cuttings imwiediately after rain, as 

 the moist weather refreshes the young growth 

 and puts them in a proper condition to be taken 

 oflf at, or below, the third joint. Cuttings should 

 be potted immediately on being rooted, not 

 allowing the roots to become larger than a half 

 inch. On potting the cuttings they are placed in 

 the greenhouse and shaded for three or four days, 

 or as long as the condition of the weather may 

 require. As soon as they have struck root in 

 the soil of the pots, they should be sprinkled 

 with sulphur water by adding one pound to ten 

 gallons of water ; one watering each week will 

 l)e sufficient to keep them clean and healthy ; 

 fumigate with tobacco two or three times each 

 week, and there is no doubt whate^'er of having a 

 healthy and vigorous stock; provided proper 

 attention has been given to temperature, water- 

 ing and fumigation by tobacco. 



CINERARIAS. 



BY F., BOSTON, MASS. 



At ]). 234 of the August 1877 Monthly, I re- 

 ferred to the excellence of the Cinerarias grown 

 by my neighbor, Mr. Paterson, of Oakley, "Water- 

 town, and now (Feb. 11) I send you a few blos- 

 , somsfrom the Oakley greenhouses. Then* chief 

 merits consist in the size, beauty and purity of 

 coloring of the blossoms, and the massive propor- 

 tions of the plants, points gained and main- 

 tained b}' a careful selection of home-saved 

 seed and good cultivation. Xo attempt is made 

 at the florist's nicety of perfection in blos- 

 som, Mr. P.'s end being to have fine spec- 

 imens for conservatory decoration and for 

 furnishing cut flowers to have each plant bear a 

 great wealth of large and brilliant blossoms, and 



this purpose he certainly has attained. Mr. P. 

 neither exhibits nor sells plants or seeds, there- 

 fore those who wish to see them should see them 

 at Oakley, where Calceolarias, Cyclamens, I'rim- 

 roses,Azale;us and other flowering and greenhouse 

 and stove plants are cultivated with equal suc- 

 cess, and a more civil, cordial, and generous- 

 minded person than Mr. P. you will seldom 

 meet. 



Amonii the l^lossoms sent I have numbered a, 

 few, so that you may specially notice them. No. 

 1 is 2i in. across ; No. 2, 21 in. and almost semi- 

 double ; No. 3, 2| in. ; No. 4, 2i in., and of a 

 glowing, purplish violet ; and No. 5 over 2i in. 

 and goodly florist's flowers. 



Mr. Paterson saves his seed from the finest 

 flowered plants and sows it about the end of 

 June, in pans of tine, light soil in a cold frame — 

 one of the spent Spring bed*;. As soon as the 

 seedlings are fit to handle he pricks them oft'inta 

 other pans, and when they grow a little, pots 

 them singly, and afterwards re-pots them two or 

 three times just as they demand it. He makes 

 it a point never to allow his Cinerarias to become 

 pot-bound before they are shifted, or shoAv flower- 

 buds before they receive their final potting, 

 which is usually in late October or November, 

 and sometimes a few in mid-winter, when they 

 will be in from sdven to ten inch pots. From 

 the time they are sown up till November, or as 

 late as frost can well be excluded from frames by 

 means of a straw mat over the sashes, tin; Cin- 

 erarias are grown in cold frames. Just before 

 hard frosts are likely to occur, however, they 

 are transposed from the frames to the graperies, 

 where, on elevated table-like benches, they are 

 I wintered with a niininuim temperature of 38°. 



While in the frames they are roomily arranged, 

 kept near the glass, abundantly watered at the 

 ' root and overhead, and kept as cool as practica- 

 ble by a little whitewash shading on the sashes, 

 and liberal ventilation. In the graperies they 

 are treated to generous lil)ations and almost daily 

 sprinklings, and when it is evident that the pots 

 : are filled with roots and the flower-buds are being 

 ' formed, a little liquid manure is given, until the 

 flowers open, when its application is discontinued. 

 The first appearance of flower buds, too, is pinched 

 out, in order to secure a wider and more compact 

 ' head. 



I The most forward of the Cinerarias are placed 

 in a division of the grapery where the minimum 

 temperature is 40° to 44°, and are consequently 

 rushed earlier into blossom than those wintered 



