MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 239 



stage the plants are thinned to one-half, and in a fortnight after to half again. 

 The seed being sown, the pots are placed in a gentle hot-bed frame, kept close 

 shaded, till the plants are up ; then a proportionate increase of air is admitted, 

 avoiding, at the season, cold wind. When hot sun occurs, a little shading is 

 adopted. A lighter soil is used for the plants to grow in for winter blooming; 

 the water more readily passes through, and the plants are not so liable to rot at 

 that dull period. Water, too, is not applied over-head, but the foliage is kept 

 as dry as possible. 



The pots are plunged to the rim in cold frames during the warmer period of 

 the year, and in winter where a very slight warmth is afforded. Thick reeded 

 covers are used to protect in winter, and in severe weather a foot thick of dry 

 straw under the reed covers. When the plants are about three inches high, a 

 few slender twigs, or strips of wood, are fixed round the pot, and in the interior; 

 a piece of matting is then secured round, and this repeated afterwards as 

 required, so as to prevent the plants bowing down. 



It is by this attention the fine vigorous pots of the London growers are pro< 

 duced, and at all periods of the year. 



An extensive Mignonette Grower. 



On an Insect, or whatever it is, that destroys the inside of the bud 

 of the Cineraria. — I should feel much obliged to the Conductor to inform me, 

 in the Floricui.tural Cabinet, whether he has ever observed the destruction of 

 the bud of the Cinerarias. The whole of the inside of the bud is destroyed just 

 before the flowering, leaving the green cup perfect. All my plants have been 

 attacked this winter, and they now begin to look sickly all over. I have placed 

 them in three different places, namely, my greenhouse, with temperature about 

 40, in forcing pits, and in a room, but they are all affected alike, and I cannot 

 find any insect, although I have searched well with a magnifying glass. I should 

 be glad to be informed how to prevent it, for my disappointment has been very 

 great this winter, as I had many healthy plants all ready for blooming early in 

 January, and they have all gone off as 1 have described. 



A VERS GREAT ADMIRER OF THE FlORICULTURAL CABINET. 



[Our own Cinerarias have never so suffered, nor have we seen any elsewhere. 

 Where ants infest plant-houses, we have observed them eat out the embryo 

 blooms at a very early stage, especially those of the Fuchsia. If the plants of 

 our Correspondent were placed during the earlier part of winter where they 

 would be liable to be injured by ants, or other similar enemy, in the embryo 

 stage, the flower buds might be destroyed ; and on the removal of the plants as 

 mentioned, and arriving at the more matured state, they would alike develope 

 the injury when the calyx began to expand, whether placed in greenhouse, pit, or 

 room. — Conductor.] 



FLORICULTURAL CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 



Annual Flower Seeds, as Clarkia, Collinsia, Schizanthuses, Ten Week Stocks, 

 &c, now sown in pots, and kept in a cool frame or greenhouse during winter, 

 will be suitable for planting out in open borders next April. Such plants bloom 

 early and fine, and their flowering season is generally closing when spring-sown 

 plants are coming into bloom. Seeds of many kinds now sown in the open 

 borders endure winter and bloom vigorously early next season. 



Camellias. — Thin the flower buds, which will tend to preserve more certainly 

 those for blooming, and cause them to be vigorous. Place some in the green- 

 house early, that are desired to bloom in December, or before, rn some cases. 



Carnation Layers should immediately be potted off. 



China Jiuse Cuttings now strike very freely ; buds may still be put in suc- 

 cessfully. 



Dahlia*. — Where the laterals are very numerous, they should be thinned out 

 so as to have vigorous blooms. Towards the end of the month collect seeds of 

 the early-blown flowers. 



Greenhouse plants will generally require to be taken in by the end of the 



