1S2 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTIUULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAliDENEK. 



[ MartU 1, 1877. 



and the compost need eonsista of turfy loam and manure 

 reduced to soil in equal parts, with a sixth part each of 

 silver sand and charcoal brok><n up rather small. The plants 

 are afforded room for devtlopment by placing them thinly on 

 ashes in a cold frame, and are duly attended to with water, 

 avoiding overwatering ; the trusses appearing before Septem- 

 ber are removed with a pair of Bcissors, and at the end of that 

 month a light airy position is given the plants in any house 

 having a greenhouse temperature — viz., 40° to 45° from fire 

 heat. Liquid manure is given at every alternate watering 

 after the pots fill with roots. The plants flower from October 

 until April. 



For late spring flowering the seed may be sown in heat in 

 June, growing the plants on in cold frames until October, when 

 the plants should be shifted into their blooming pots, if not 

 already done in September, which is preferable. They require 

 to be very carefully watered and never overhead after the 

 weather becomes dull and wet; say from September to April 

 inclusive, and being careful not to pour the water upon the 

 collar of the plant The trusses should be removed up to the 

 middle of February for an April bloom, or to within six week3 

 of when the flowers are required. After the plants have ceased 

 flowering in the greenhouse they will, if they are kept from 

 frost and the spent trusses and old leaves are removed, flower 

 grandly in August onwards if planted out at the end of May 

 or early Jane in rich light soil, preferably a vegetable one, in 

 a slightly shaded situation. The plants, however, are not 

 worth keeping for a second bloom in pots ; young plants are 

 very superior. 



Cinerarias. — These must be of dwarf branching habit, robust 

 and healthy in constitution, and if the strain be good the 

 flowers will surpass in form, size, and colour named varieties. 

 The flowers under ordinary cultivation will not be less than 

 IJ inch in diameter, and these will have a much better eiiect 

 than a great umbel of clustered small flowers as starry and 

 ragged as a wild Daisy. From a well-assorted packet of 

 Cineraria seed we may calculate upon at least half a dozen 

 distinct colours in the progeny — the highest number I have 

 known being ten — and when this is the ease the grower may 

 indeed consider himself fortunate, for in not a few instances 

 a majority of the seedlings are selfs, and what is remarkable, 

 blue ; indeed I have myself had nothing else at times from a 

 packet of seed. The plants aiJordicg blue flowers are when 

 in a small state readily distinguishable by their superlative 

 robustness and the blue tint of their leaves, especially the 

 under side and footstalks. Only the number desired of that 

 oolour should be selected from the seedlings. Plants which 

 are weakest in their young state almost invariably afford the 

 best flowers in size, form, and colour. 



A woid as to double Cinerarias. They must be very dif- 

 ferent to any I have had to compare favourably with the 

 single. The flowers are too small in size, the petals too nar- 

 row and not numerous enough to come up to what we expect 

 of a double flower ; indeed the extra internal petals, which 

 constitute anything rather than doubleness, and to which the 

 flower is indebted for its title, detract from rather than add 

 to its beauty. " Blindness " is sometimes alluded to as a 

 defect in Cinerarias, notably of the double. Now I do not 

 remember to have had a plant without florets of some kind, 

 but I have had quite my ehare of plants the petals which 

 might as well for any good they were never have appeared — in 

 fact some of them, as if aware of their inferiority, could hardlj' 

 show themselves beyond the calyx. These flowers will un- 

 fortunately seed just as freely or more so than those with 

 petals three-quarters of an inch long, and it ij the saving of 

 seed from such palfied plants that is productive of so much 

 annoyance. 



There has been of late a growing disposition to look upon 

 Cinerarias with doubt, it being alleged the progeny were dege- 

 nerate, and recourse would again have to be had to cutting or 

 offset propagation from named varieties. Such is not con- 

 sonant with my experience, and will not, I think, be found 

 that of those who will take the trouble to select the best plants 

 and flowers only for seeding. I have known all the beet flowers 

 cut by the flower-gatherer, and what flowers were left ex- 

 pected to furnish seed and ultimately plants with flowers 

 equalling them in time to come. No wonder the result is so 

 much blindness and disappointment ; but when the best plants 

 and flowers only are selected for seeding I have invariably 

 foimd that the offspring is marked by, in a majority of cases, 

 superiority. Seed of such will be limited in quantity, and 

 command a relatively higher value than that collected from 



plants indiscriminately. There is no plant but what under 

 superior cultivation and selection from for seeding in its best 

 form will exhibit in the progeny decided advancement. Seed 

 of most plants is best when saved by those devoting their care 

 and forethought to some particular class of flower. 



In raising plants to flower in winter I sow the seed in April 

 in pans well drained, and filled to within a quarter of an inch 

 of the lim with a compost of three parts turfy loam and one- 

 third of leaf soil or thoroughly deoajed manure. The surface 

 is covered with a little fine soil and made level ; a gentle water- 

 ing is given before sowing, and the seed is sprinkled very lightly 

 with fine soil. The seed pans are placed in gentle heat or a 

 hotbed, and kept moist, taking care not to sodden the soil nor 

 allow it to become very dry. The seedlings appear in ten days 

 to a fortnight, and are then kept moist, shaded from bright 

 sun, near the glass, and well ventilated. They are potted-o£E 

 singly into 3inch pots when they have a rough leaf and 

 showing another, placing in a cold frame, keeping close for 

 a few days. When the plants are established air is admitted 

 freely. They are shifted from 3-inch to 5 or C-inch pots 

 before the roots are very closely matted, and from these are 

 transferred to 8 or 9-inch pots. It is necessary that the 

 plants have plenty of room and light — the fierce rays of the 

 sun being broken by shading. They are duly attended to 

 with water, a gentle sprinkling overhead in hot weather of an 

 evening being very beneficial. The plants will be advanced 

 for flowering by early October, but will not expand freely with- 

 out a temperature of about 50° from fire heat. In an ordinary 

 greenhouse they will flower by January and continue nntU 

 March. If aphis, for which scrutinise the plants frequently, 

 appear, fumigate with tobacco. 



To flower in spring sow in June, and place in a shaded 

 frame, growing on in the same up to October, and then trans- 

 fer to a pit or other low structure where they will have plenty 

 of light, and ventilation with safety from frost. Shift into 

 larger pots as required, taking care the balls are not very closely 

 matted before each potting. They will flower from March 

 until June. A slight shade when in flower is necessary, and 

 weak liquid manure m-iy be given at every alternate watering 

 after the pots are filled with roots. — G. Abbey. 

 (To be continued. ) 



JERUSALEM AETICHOKES. 



Jerusalem is a popular corruption of the Italian name for 

 the Sunflower, Girasole, which is literally, to turn to the snn. 

 Artichoke was applied to this vegetable because its tubers 

 when boiled have a flavour like that of the head of the com- 

 mon Artichoke. It belongs to the same botanical genus as 

 the Sunflower, and is the Helianthua tuberosus, a native of 

 S.nth America, and is becoming increasingly popular as a 

 culinary vegetable for winter use. 



Not many years ago it only existed in a few gardens much as 

 Horseradish existed, being left to occupy the same plot of 

 ground year by year ; a few miserable tubers were dug up as 

 they happened to be wanted or could be found, and receiving 

 no systematic or intelligent cultivation. That negligent mode 

 of treating the Jerusalem Artichoke has happily become obso- 

 lete, and now the crop is cultivated as a staple winter vege- 

 table in nearly all well-managed gardens. Neither is it limited 

 to the gardens of the wealthy, for as its usefulness became 

 known its cultivation spread into the home plots of every class. 



All consumers of vegetables do not, of course, relish the 

 peculiar flavour of Jerusalem, or, as thoy are becoming popu- 

 larly known, "Potato-Artichokes," any more than all men 

 enjoy Parsnips ; but Artichokes are approved by the palates of 

 most people, and hence these tubers are now offered in con- 

 siderable quantities in the public markets. The increase of 

 Jerusalem Artichokes has probably received a stimulus in con- 

 sequence of the periodical destruction of the Potato crops by 

 the murrain, and a desire has been thereby fostered to find a 

 substitute for the indispensable " earth fruit," the Potato; but 

 neither Artichokes uor any other root can be regarded as a 

 satisfactory substitute for the Potato, any more than Cabbages 

 are substitutes for Cauliflowers, or Beans for Peas. 



Jerusalem Artichokes are essentially different from Potatoes, 

 inapmuch as the former contain very little starch, while in 

 tbe Potato starch is a considerable and valuable constituent. 

 Bat that does not prove that these Artichokes are to that 

 extent inferior to Potatoes in nutritious properties. Tlie 

 Potato has, perhaps, been over-estimated as a flesh-forming 

 vegetable, and possibly the Artichoke has been nuder-estiiuated 



