April 20, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



311 



and devoured greedily any insect that might be upon them, 

 but never ate the green bud. It was amusing to see how 

 quickly they would clear a branch covered with green fly. A 

 large bluebottle fly was a great treat to them, and they are also 

 fond of wasps and beea. Though very fond of my bullfinch I 

 cannot give him such a good character. He devours every bud 

 he oan get and thinks them delicious. — JI. IIaiulton. 



[The tomtit is a soft-billed bird. Only hard-billed birds 

 destroy buds. — Eds.] 



CINERARIA CULTURE. 



At the fortnightly meeting of the Darlington Gardeners' Insti- 

 tute held on April 12th, the following paper on the cultivation 

 of the Cineraria was read by Mr. Grindrod of Woodburn : — 



Cinerarias are undoubtedly amongst the best pluuts we 

 possess for producing an attractive display during the late 

 winter and early spring months. That they are universal 

 favourites all will admit ; for while the beauty of their flowers 

 secures for them ready admittance to the home of the florist, 

 the simplicity of their culture, their usefulness as decorative 

 plants for the greenhouse or conservatory, and also for fur- 

 nishing a supply of cut flowers, for which their pleasing fra- 

 grance renders them especially adaptable, cause them to be 

 almost indispensable to amateurs and gardeners. The original 

 varieties of Cinerarias have been much improved by careful 

 cultivation and skilful hybridising, the result of which has 

 been better and more symmetrical flowers and a dwarfer habit 

 iu the plants; but the moat noticeable result has been the 

 production of double Cinerarias, which are now being dis- 

 tributed by a London firm, and only require to be known to 

 be appreciated. Both the single and double varieties are pro- 

 pagated from seeds and offsets, and as the treatment of both 

 varieties is almost the fame it will be sufficient for our present 

 purpose to consider them as identical. 



To propagate from seed sow about the first or second week 

 in May in seed pans filled with a compost of equal parts loam 

 and leaf soil, with sufficient sand to render it porous. Scatter 

 the feed evenly over the suiface, and cover very lightly with 

 soil made fine by crushing with the hands. After sowing place 

 the pans in a shady position in an intermediate house and 

 water carefully, keeping the soil in a moist condition. Do not 

 Attempt to hasten germination by placing glass over the pans, 

 for although by so doing the seedlings may make their appear- 

 ance a few hours sooner, they will be weaker iu condition to a 

 corresponding extent. If from any cause you have reason to 

 fear that the soil will become too dry, a little sphagnum moss 

 placed on the surface will assist to keep it in the requisite 

 moist condition ; but only in the exceptional circumstance 

 above mentioned do I advise keeping the surface covered. As 

 soon as the plants have made their rough leaves prick them 

 off into pans or S-iach pots, using a light loam with plenty of 

 leaf toil. After prickicg-off return them to the intermediate 

 house, and give a good watering. Here they may stay until 

 they commence growing freely, wLeu they eliould be potted 

 into 3-inch pots and placed iu a cool frame. Use a light open 

 soil for potting, as before advised. Give a good watering after 

 they are potted, and keep shaded until they are established, 

 alter which they should have plenty of air and as much light 

 as they will bear without injury. Syringe lightly morning and 

 evening in fine neather, and keep them clean. 



As the plants increase in size and till their pots with roots 

 give them another shift into 5-inch pots, using the soil a little 

 rougher, and if convenient adding a little decayed manure. 

 After potting, place them in a cool frame in a shaded position 

 on a bed of ashes, which, in addition to kteping worms out of 

 the pots, furnibhes a moist heaMiy bottom on which Cinerarias 

 delight to stand. Water thoroughly and keep shaded until 

 the roots begin to work freely in the new soil, when they may 

 have abundance of air, but shaded from direct sunshine. 

 Keep the foliage clean and free from insects by syringing 

 copiously in hot weather, and never allow them to become too 

 dry at the roots, or all the lower leaves will be lost and the 

 growth of the plants seriously checked. After the roots have 

 touched the tides of the pots occasional applications of manure 

 water will greatly strengthen and improve tho foliage, and 

 also encourage the growth. If properly attended to they will 

 now be growing very quickly, and will scon require moving 

 into larger pots, which must be done before the roots become 

 matted. Drain the pots carefully ; for although Cinerarias 

 require plenty of moisture during their growing season, they 

 cannot bear stagnant water at their roots. Iu potting, use a 



mixture of two parts turfy loam broken in small pieces by the 

 hand, one part leaf soil, one part sand and manure. Pot 

 moderately firm and replace iu the frames, water thoroughly, 

 and keep close as before. Watering must now be carefully 

 attended to ; if they become too dry at the roots they will 

 very likely be spoiled as decorative plants. It the weather is 

 very hot during July and August the plants will be much 

 benefited by having the lights removed at night and allowing 

 them to have the night air and dew, of which they are very 

 fond. Continue to use the syringe freely every day, give 

 plenty of air, and you will have little trouble with green fly. 

 As the season advances and October draws near gradually 

 dispense with shading until the foliage becomes strong enough 

 to bear the direct rays of the sun without injury, which will be 

 in October. 



As soon as there is any indication of frost remove the plants 

 to their winter quarters as near the glass as possible. If they 

 can be accommodated with a shelf in a greenhouse from which 

 the frost is excluded they will pass through the winter in good 

 condition. Give the largest plants another shift into O-inch 

 pots before they show their bloom. Pot iu a coarse mixture 

 of two parts good turfy loam, one part leaf soil, and one part 

 sand and manure ; pot moderately firm, and replace on the 

 shelf. Watering must now be carefully but regularly attended 

 to; do not allow them to get either too dry or too wet, but 

 keep the soil in a medium condition. As the pots fill with 

 roots give manure water occasionally, gradually increasing the 

 strength until they take it at every watering. If they can be 

 syringed overhead on fine mornings it will assist to keep the 

 foliage healthy and free from insects. After the blooms are 

 expanded they will keep in perfection longer if they are shaded 

 from the rays of the hot spring sun. 



Propagation by offsets is generally done to preserve any 

 exceptionally good seedlings and also named varieties, and 

 especially the doubles. After the plants have flowered cut 

 them to within '2 inches from the suifaee of the soil, and place 

 in a close frame, when they will soon produce plenty of offsets, 

 which must be removed with a sharp knife ; pot them singly 

 into :i-inch pots, using light sandy soil, and place in a frame 

 where they can have the benefit of a little heat, and keep close 

 and shaded uuti! they are rooted, after which they are treated 

 as if from seed. Cinerarias are very liable to the attacks of 

 green fly, especially if grown in places where fire heat is used ; 

 keep a sharp look-out for it at all times, aud destroy as soon 

 as it makes its appearance by fumigating with tobacco paper. 

 A word iu closing as to watering, which must be done very 

 carefully during the winter months : Increase the quantity aa 

 the days lengthen, when, if all goes well, you will have an 

 abundance of what are always desired — namely, beautiful 

 spring flowers. 



GUMMING OF FRUIT TREES. 



Anvthino that Mr. J. Simpson of Wortley says is always 

 treated by me with respect, and I am flattered by having such 

 a well-known practical gardener as a critic; but I am afraid he 

 has invited me to do what is not very easy — viz., to " furnish 

 one authenticated instance in which gumming was beneficial 

 rather than injurious to the Peach tree." Mr. Simpson surely 

 would not make me say that a tree ivhich gums badly is 

 better than one which does not gum at all. My theory is, that 

 a tree which has more sap than its organs of circulation can 

 elaborate is benefited by being relieved of some of it, and this 

 much I have proved to my own satisfactioi:, but convincing 

 Mr. Simpson is another thing. 



Mr. Smipeon quotes from Thompson's " Gardeners' Assist- 

 ant," a book I acknowledge to be the best standard woik on 

 practical gardening ever publiehed. Moreover, 1 had the in- 

 valuable privilege of working with its dear old author, and 

 accepted greedily every word he uttered in tuy hearing ; but 

 for all that I cannot say that he was alwajs right. And to 

 quote again part of Mr. Simpson's ijuotation, where Mr. 

 Thompson says, " If it [gumming] pervades a tree to any con- 

 siderable extent, the sooner the latter is dug up and replaced 

 by a healthy subject the better," I ask. What would Mr. 

 Thompson do were he in my position, when after following the 

 above advice more or less for eight consecutive seasons under 

 every possible variety of treatment, not with one or two new 

 trees each season, but probably an average of twenty, and 

 then bo obliged to confess, as I am, that ho never had a solitary 

 Peach tree three years in one place out of doors which did not 

 gum ? Would he dig them all up and give up Peach-growing 



