POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



425 



been raised in gardens, but no trace of any 

 other species than S. cruentus can be found in 

 the plants now popularly grown as Cinerarias. 

 Named varieties are sometimes propagated by 

 means of cuttings; generally, however, the 

 plant is treated as an annual, the strains coming 

 true from seeds. They can be raised in quanti- 

 ties, and are comparatively easy to grow if kept 



Fig. 525.— Cinerarias. 



free from aphides, to which they are more than 

 ordinarily subject. These attacks nearly always 

 follow some slight check in the growth of the 

 plant, and by far the best way of prevention is 

 to keep the plants in a constant state of growth, 

 giving them plenty of water and letting them 

 grow away freely from the first. They like 

 moderate shade, plenty of air, and a moist 

 atmosphere at all times, but air should not be 

 given in a way to come directly through them 

 in a current. They flower in the winter and 

 spring, when their exceedingly-bright colours 

 render them suitable conservatory decorative 

 plants, and also for furnishing cut flowers. 

 They do not bear much forcing, and if pushed 

 on too freely become leggy and produce but 

 small flowers; on the other hand, it is well not 

 to grow them too slowly. 



Seeds should not be sown before the end of 

 April or early in May. A second sowing may 

 be made in June for a later batch. Sow in pans 

 in a compost of three parts good loam, two 



parts leaf -mould, mixed with one-sixth sand; 

 and sow the seeds thinly, as the seedlings when 

 too much crowded in the seed-pan get their 

 roots injured in potting ofi\ Place the pans in 

 shade, and do not water more than is requisite 

 before the plants are up. After they have vege- 

 tated keep the soil moderately moist, and place 

 where the seedlings will get plenty of light 

 but little sun; when large enough to handle, 

 prick them out in pans or pots filled with 

 similar soil to that in which they were sown, 

 excepting that now it will be well not to use so 

 much sand. When the seedlings have grown 

 so as to touch each other they should be planted 

 singly in 4-inch pots, and moved into shallow 

 frames facing the north or on the shady side of 

 a wall. Give plenty of air, and from their 

 first appearance above-ground never allow them 

 to get dry. For most purposes 6-inch pots are 

 large enough, if the plants are well attended to, 

 and liberally supplied with manure-water as 

 the pots get filled with roots. Pot moderately 

 firm, and all they will require during the re- 

 mainder of the summer will be to keep them 

 regularly supplied with water, air, and shade, 

 the bed of ashes on which they are stood being 

 in hot weather always kept damp. As the 

 autumn advances they should be removed to a 

 pit where a little heat can be turned on. They 

 should always be stood on a moist bottom. If 

 set on shelves an inch of sphagnum placed 

 under them and kept damp will be beneficial, 

 and if in a house with side-lights, they must 

 not be placed near where these open so as to let 

 the air come directly on them. As soon as they 

 show signs of forming their bloom-stems give 

 manure-water at every alternate watering, but 

 do not allow it to touch the leaves; this will 

 give them strength and much increase the 

 quantity of flower they produce. They will 

 bloom nicely by Christmas in a temperature of 

 from 40° to 45° at night, with a little more 

 warmth in the day. A few of the best should 

 be selected for seed. The blues, self-reds, and 

 white grounds tipped with red are the principal 

 colours. Those intended to bear seed should 

 be placed, whilst in flower, away from the others, 

 each colour in a small frame at some distance 

 apart, so that they will not get crossed by bees. 

 The seed should be gathered as soon as ripe. 



C. stellata, or the Star Cineraria, is a new 

 strain, the result of cross-fertilization between 

 forms of S. cruenta and the type. The flowers 

 are small and starry, and produced in immense 

 numbers; the plants vary in height from 1J to 

 4 feet, and form most charming subjects for 



