58 ON THE CULTURE OF CINERARIAS. 



October to June. The mode of management with the Cinerarias 

 now being so much better known than formerly, they can be bloomed 

 so much superior in proportion. 



The following method of cultivation is what I pursue, and my 

 plants in bloom and growth are very much superior to any other I 

 have seen. I obtain a mass of bloom, and the flowers of a large size ; 

 and generally have heads of them two feet and a half across, some 

 even more. The compost I use is equal portions of rich turfy loam, 

 rotten cow-dung manure, vegetable mould, and sandy peat, with a 

 scattering of bits of charcoal in it. I always have a free drainage of 

 broken pot, and over it some unbroken pieces of turf or peat. 



About the middle of April I take off a sufficiency of suckers, with 

 as many fibrous roots as possible, when potted, in smallish pots, 

 varied by the size of the sucker, but usually about four or five inches 

 across. I place them in a hot-bed frame, in gentle heat ; shading 

 them from mid-day sun, and occasionally syringe them overhead, till 

 I see them established. Air is admitted in due proportion as they 

 become more and more rooted. When the pots have got filled with 

 roots, I re-pot them into six or seven-inches pots, keeping the balls 

 entire, and I have them placed in a cool frame, giving them plenty of 

 air during the day-time, but shading overhead till the end of May. 

 From that time I expose them to the open air, day and night ; in 

 which situation I retain them during summer. As the pots get filled 

 with roots I again re-pot, in a corresponding larger pot. Soft water, 

 obtained principally from a tank, which is supplied from what is 

 collected from the rain falling upon the roofs of the houses, is regu- 

 larly and freely given to the roots, never allowing the plants to flag. 

 And early in the morning, and towards evening, I have them 

 sprinkled over head with pure water from a bason till the middle of 

 September. 



The former mentioned water is strongly impregnated with soot, 

 and it appears to me very materially to promote their vigour. As 

 flower-stems are produced I thin away some, so as to retain just 

 sufficient for a vigorous bloom, and properly tie up such as are to 

 flower. If any plant pushes shoots too early for my intended bloom- 

 ing season, I pinch off the top, and, thus retarded, other shoots 

 proceed. By the early part of October I take the plants into the 

 greenhouse, or show-house ; they are duly attended to, soon come 



