General Notices. 227 



close for a few days, after which the covering should be removed entirely, 

 to allow the dews and rains to fall on them. They will require no more 

 attention until the time arrives for potting ; but they should have a liberal 

 supply of water, and liquid manure occasionally. About the middle of 

 September they should be taken up and potted in six or seven-inch pots, in 

 a compost. Afterwards replace them in the frame, keeping them close for 

 a few days, and constantly wetting the foliage three or four times a day to 

 keep them from flagging. In about a fortnight, they may be removed to the 

 greenhouse, and watered more sparingly as they come into flower. You 

 win then insure a good succession of bloom throughout the autumn. Seed 

 for specimens to flower in spring should be sown in April, and treated as 

 above, keeping them free from damp and frost during the winter months, 

 and giving them more water, as the spring advances, which is all that is 

 required to make them flower abundantly. After the plants have done 

 blooming, plant them out as before, and they will make fine specimens for 

 flowering in the following autumn. [Gard. Chron. 1846, p. 4.) 



Destruction of the Red Spider. — A writer reminds the readers of the 

 Chronicle that sulphur, rightly applied, in conjunction with atmospheric 

 moisture, is perfectly efficient to destroy the spider. -Apply it three times 

 a year, on an under pipe, and on the least heated portion of the flue, thick 

 as paint, and worked up with soft-soap water to make it adhere for some 

 time. Do this in February, in May, and again in August, and maintain a 

 wholsesome amount of atmospheric moisture — not a sudden steam, but a 

 slow yet permanent supply — and I will engage that the spider will be ren- 

 dered perfectly harmless. Do not, however, apply it on any surface that is 

 so warm at times as to produce inconvenience to the hand when grasping 

 it; this is a simple rule. [Gard. Chron., 1846, p. 87.) 



Winter F owers. — A series of articles is published in the Chronicle on 

 the cultivation of winter flowers. As it contains some excellent hints, we 

 shall occasionally extract such as are interesting to our readers : — 



Euphorbia jacquiniflora. — This most beautiful winter flower is, indeed, 

 indispensable to every collection ; its cultivation is not difficult, although it 

 is somewhat difficult to get the plants into a bushy state. The two or 

 three year old plants make the best bushes, and cuttings struck from these, 

 when they " break" in February, will make nice plants for a small shelf 

 by the ensuing autumn. Mr. Beaton has recommended turning them on 

 their sides in the course of their cultivation, to encourage the emission of 

 shoots from the lower part of the stem, and a good plan it is. However, if 

 a lively and powerful action of root, through well constituted and porous 

 soil and bottom heat, be ensured, they will, with "stopping," break many 

 shoots. If there are plenty of cuttings to be had, I should recommend put- 

 ting three in a small pot, which should receive only one shift afterwards ; 

 they will thus make more effect than single plants. Soil should be sandy 

 heath, leaf soil, and loam, all in a lumpy state, to which add plenty of 

 small charcoal, pounded crocks, and sharp sand, with the pot one third 

 filled with drainage. 



Mignonette. — Every body's favorite, and is easily grown, provided good 



