112 Notes and Gleanings. 



Mignonette for Winter-Blooming. — Everybody is partial to the deli- 

 cious aroma of this simple flower ; every one would like to have it through the 

 winter months : and yet all but a very few fail to have plants bloomin-j at that 

 season. Some nurse the plants to death ; others grow them in a temperature 

 much too high for their wants ; and some run to the other extreme, and starve 

 their plants. Now, to acliieve complete success, mignonette should be sown 

 three times ; say the middle of July, the middle of August, and the first week in 

 September. The pots must be what are called four-inch, and be quite clean. 

 Drain them thoroughly with rough bones ; fill with a compost of fresh turfy loam 

 and one-tliird of rotten dung well incorporated ; and, if it is dry, make the soil 

 quite firm. At the time of sowing, cover the seed with sandy loam, give a good 

 soaking of water, and shade the pots until the plants come up. The pots should 

 be placed in a pit or frame ; not that it is necessary that they be covered witji 

 glass at all times, but so that, in the event of heavy rain or boisterous storms, 

 the plants may be protected from its force. Directly the plants are of sufficient 

 size to handle them, turn out, retaining not more than five of the strongest plants 

 in each pot ; and, should these be at all spindly or weak, earth them with a little 

 dry soil, and water around the sides of the pot. There is nothing that mignonette 

 is so impatient of as stagnant moisture around the collar of the plant ; and hence 

 it is important that the drainage of the pots be effective, and the pots after the end 

 of August be not exposed to heavy rains ; and, from the end of September until 

 February, not a drop of moisture should fall upon the plants. Give wliat water 

 may be necessary at tlie roots ; but, later in the season, do it so that they may 

 be dry before the frame is shut up for the night. The plants first sown will be 

 fit, if properly managed, to take a shift into six-inch pots the end of August : the 

 second lot may be repotted the end of September ; but the plants last raised 

 need not receive larger pots until February. By tlie end of September, the first 

 raised plants should be strong and healthy : but, unless they be wanted, it will 

 be wise to remove the flower-spikes directly they can be handled ; that will add 

 materially to the size of the plant, and strengthen the bloom for the winter. 

 Now, through the winter, tlie following rules must be observed in the manage- 

 ment of mignonette. First, the place for the blooming-plants must be cool, and 

 close to the glass ; plenty of air must be given ; but the plants must not be ex- 

 posed to cold, cutting draughts, or the foliage will soon turn sickly. Secondly, 

 water must be carefully used, giving sufficient, but not making the plants sodden; 

 and, thirdly, the temperature of the house should not exceed, by fire-heat, Ibrty 

 to forty-five degrees. Succession-plants are the best kept in pits or frames. 

 Plunge the pots into cinder-ashes, water very cautiously, and give all the air 

 possible without exposing the plants to rain. On any mild days, the sashes may 

 be taken entirely ofi"with decided advantage. Protect from frost on cold nights, 

 and your success in growing mignonette will not be called in question. If the 

 last sown batch receive a shift in February, they may be grown into very large 

 specimens. A good pot of mignonette in the spring should be two feet to thirty 

 inches high, and a bush quite as much in diameter. Weak guano-water may be 

 used with decided advantage when they are in free growth. — The Field. 



