FAVOURITE GREENHOUSE PLANTS 437 



comes active, the plants must never be allowed to lack moisture. 

 Water thoroughly once every two or three days, and be sure 

 that the soil is approaching a dry state before the dose is re- 

 peated. A frequent spraying with clear soft water will keep 

 red spider at bay and help to maintain the foliage in a healthy 

 condition. 



The best method of propagation is by means of cuttings. These 

 should be taken in early spring from the young shoots, which hi 

 generous quantity are thrown out by the ordinary healthy 

 plant. 



The soil for the reception of the cuttings should be composed 

 chiefly of sand. Half-a-dozen cuttings can be inserted round the 

 edge of a five-inch pot, and the latter should then be plunged in 

 cocoa-nut fibre in a box and treated in a similar way to that 

 recommended for tomato seedlings. Here, if a temperature 

 of 65 can be maintained, they will root quickly, and when 

 growth starts the little plants can be potted on into small 

 pots. 



It is a good plan to plant a few well-rooted winter-flowering 

 carnations out of doors in June. Here they will grow sturdily, 

 and as soon as the buds begin to form the plants should be potted 

 up and transferred to the greenhouse, where they will speedily 

 bear many handsome blooms. 



CINERAMAS. The cineraria is best treated as an annual which 

 when it has flowered had better be thrown away or burned. The 

 seed should be sown in June. Many amateurs fight shy of intro- 

 ducing the cineraria into their greenhouses because of its pro- 

 pensity to harbour and become infested with greenfly. But if 

 a sturdy, healthy growth be promoted by giving the plants cool 

 treatment from the earliest stages onwards, and if the greenfly be 

 kept under by frequent light fumigations with tobacco, or, better 

 still, vaporisations with nicotine, every two or three weeks, the 

 enemy can be repelled and the reward in early spring will be 

 great. 



For the final potting when this is due and its necessity can be 

 ascertained by an inspection of the ball of soil to discover whether 



