THE CINEEAPJA. 



culture, it is rather surprising that they are not more generally grown and to be met 

 with in every green-house, however small, as they certainly deserve to be ; then the 

 fii-st outlay being so trifling that a small packet of seed is all that is required for any 

 person, with a little care and attention, to have them in bloom from November till 

 May. Dame Nature is always lavish of her gifts to her votaries, whether they be a 

 Duke of Devonshire or the no less enthusiastic mechanic who prides himself on the 

 few plants in his cottage window. The pleasurable feeling enjoyed by the lovers of 

 Nature, felt by none else, in watching daily the expanding buds of the plants that they 

 themselves have raised with their own hands, makes this a plant well calculated for the 

 fostering care of the lady gardeners of this country, who could thus watch Nature in 

 its onward progress — in its various changes — from the tiny seedling to the full-grown 

 blooming plant, with the pride every lover of plants (and ladies in particular) w^ould 

 feel in showing their friends native seedlings raised and named by themselves in honor 

 of some favorite hero or in memory of some dear friend, and ec^ual to any ever raised 

 in any country. These considerations collectively make this a plant that should be 

 grown by everybody, — in fact, a plant for "the million." 



The seed should be sown, one portion the second week in June, and the other the 

 first week in July, in wide-mouthed pots or pans, well drained, in good light soil — tAvo 

 parts leaf-mold, one part good turfy loam, and one part good sharp sand. Fill the pots 

 to within half an inch of the top with the compost, sow the seed evenly all over, and 

 barely cover the seed with the same compost; then give a gentle watering to settle the 

 whole, and place the pots in a frame on the north side of a wall or fence, and by fre- 

 quent sprinkUngs of water in the middle of the day they will be fit to pot off in the 

 course of three weeks or a month. Half-pint pots should be used for the first potting, 

 putting four plants in each pot. 



As soon as you have potted as many as you require, place them in the frame again, 

 and by paying a little attention to watering and ventilating to prevent them from 

 drawing up weak, they will be large enough to pot singly in another three weeks. 

 You must then use a compost of three parts good turfy loam, two parts leaf-mold, one 

 part good decomposed manure, and one part good sharp sand, the whole well mixed 

 with the spade, but not sifted. Ilalf-pint pots will be large enough for this potting. 

 As soon as potted, place them in a frame in a more open part of the garden, where 

 tlicy will get the morning and evening sun, shading them when very hot. Frequent 

 watering overhead is necessary to check the Red Spider, and smoking with tobacco to 

 keep down the Green Fly, both of which are deadly enemies of the Cineraria. They 

 should be frequently repotted as they progress, as nothing gives them a greater check 

 than to be pot-bound. They require a liberal supply of water, using weak manure 

 water once a week. When they begin showing flower eai'ly in October, remove them 

 to the front platform of the green-house, and in November they will commence flower- 

 ing, and continue till the middle of May. 



