82 THE amateur's geeenhotjse 



but both are easily kept in cbeck if taken in time. The best 

 remedy for mildew is flour of sulphur dusted over the foliage, 

 aud for the destruction of the green-fly nothing can equal to- 

 bacco-powder. The latter should be applied after the foliage has 

 been wetted with the syringe, and washed off" again in about 

 twenty-four hours afterwards. Green-fly can be destroyed by 

 fumigating with tobacco-paper, but the tobacco-powder is 

 applied more easily and is safer. 



The plants must be watered carefully at all times, especially 

 during the winter. They must have sufiicient water to main- 

 tain a vigorous growth, and no more ; but they must not, under 

 any consideration, be allowed to go quite dry. Use soft water 

 until the end of January, and then substitute weak liquid 

 manure for it. The plants should be syringed lightly overhead 

 every afternoon until the end of September, when syringing 

 must be discontinued. 



Where seedlings are grown, those from which it is intended 

 to save seed should, as soon as the first flowers are expanded, 

 be removed from the general stock, and placed in a frame by 

 themselves to prevent their being fertilised with pollen from 

 the worthless sorts. This is a very easy matter, because a very 

 few plants will furnish an ample supply of seed for the gene- 

 rality of gardens. The seed should be saved from plants com- 

 pact in habit, and with well-formed distinctly-coloured flowers. 

 Where seed is saved from a collection of first-rate named 

 varieties, it will not be necessary to separate the seed-bearing 

 plants from the general stock. As the flowers begin to fade, 

 place the plants in a light airy position to insure the seed 

 being thoroughly matured, aud gather before it is blown away 

 and lost. 



Sow the seeds in the first or second week in July in five-inch 

 pots. Make the surface perfectly level, and cover with a very 

 thin layer of sandy soil. The pots should then be placed in a 

 cold frame, and constantly shaded from the sun until the young 

 plants begin to show above the surface, when the supply of 

 light and air must be increased. Directly the seedlings have 

 two rough leaves, prick off" into seed-pans or round the sides of 

 the same-sized pots, and in the same manner as advised for the 

 offsets ; and, like the latter, they must be potted off" as soon 

 as established. 



The universal compost will suit cinerarias admirably, but if 

 a compost has to be made for them, let it consist of five 



