t8g8. 



' ! ■ GARDENING. 



373 



until well rooted; afterwardsa little weak 

 manure water will help them. I leave 

 them outside in the frame until the end of 

 September, after which they are removed 

 to the greenhouse and placed on a shelf 

 near the glass, keeping the house at a 

 temperature of 4-5° to 50°. 



William Thatcher. 

 Brookline, Mass. 



BEGONIA DUTCHESS DE BRABANT 



times. The trouble is said to be due to 

 the use of old soil in potting. Where old 

 soil must be used it should first be given 

 a winter's freezing in a dry, open shed 

 from which it can be removed at anytime 

 and thawed out as required. The addi- 

 tion of a little lime also helps as a prevent- 

 ive. 



Among the best varieties of this section 

 is Revolution, which takes its name, 

 apparently, from the peculiar form of the 

 leaves, a rather interesting feature, espe- 

 cially to amateurs. Marquise de Perlato 

 is of very dwarf habit, producing numer- 

 ous side shoots which are useful when it 

 is necessary to increase the stock, as cut- 

 tings make plants more quickly than 

 leaves. Another excellent variety is 

 Duchess de Brabant, the large leaves of 

 which extend over the pot completely 

 obscuring it from view. 



Ithaca, N. Y. Robert Shore. 



barrowful of compost. After the final 

 potting the plants are plunged in coal 

 ashes and given all the air possible, only 

 using the sashes on them in case of rain. 

 They will need shading through the hot- 

 test part of the day. Water carefully 



CINERARIA CULTURE. 



The cineraria is one of our most useful 

 and ornamental greenhouse plants, and 

 under good cultivation will pay well for 

 the extra care. Seed of a good strain is 

 the first and most important requisite. 

 We generally make two sowings, the first 

 about the 10th of July, the second about 

 the 15th of August; if sown much earlier 

 the hot weather is hard on them and 

 they do not make such fine plants as 

 when sown at the above times. The seed 

 is sown in a fine mixture of soil, leaf mold 

 and sand, covered slightly, then placed in 

 a cool corner of the greenhouse and kept 

 shaded from bright sunlight. 



When they show their first character 

 leaf we transplant into flats one inch 

 apart, and on their development to such 

 an extent that they become crowded, we 

 pot them in 2 1 2-inch pots, from those to 

 4-inch, giving good drainage and using 

 good turfy soil, leaf mold and well rotted 

 cow manure, with a good sprinkling of 

 sand. 



When transferred to 4-inch pots we 

 plunge them in a well ventilated pit or 

 frame shaded from the direct sunlight. 

 The plants are grown in a frame as long 

 as the weather will permit. When the 

 pots are well filled with roots the plants 

 should be shifted into the 5-inch or G-inch 

 sizes, in which they may be flowered, 

 unless specimen or exhibition plants are 

 desired, in which case they should be 



CHINESE PRIMULAS. 



This is a class of plants very easily cul- 

 tivated, and also one of the most useful 

 for florists' work. From seed sown the 

 first week in April they can be had in 

 bloom at Christmas and New Year's. 



I find the seed germinates best in a tem- 

 perature of 75° to 80°. I sow the seed in 

 well drained pots, using a compost of 

 loam and leaf mold with a little sand; a 

 square of glass laid over each pot will 

 prevent the soil from drying out too 

 quickly. 



The young plants should be left in the 

 seed pots until they are large enough to 

 pot off singly into 2-inch pots and then 

 they can be put out in a cold frame and 

 kept close and well shaded for a few days. 

 As the pots become filled with roots give 

 them a shift into 4-ineh pots. 



The next and final potting is into 

 6-inch pots, using a good, rich soil con- 

 sisting of two parts loam to one each of 

 well decayed cow manure and leaf mold, 

 with a small proportion of sand. I also 

 add a 5-inch pot of bone meal to each 



BEGONIA REVOLUTION. 



