460 
THE CINERARIA. 
or equal with, tli<^ Hawthorn, and has at least 
one advantage over that plant, in being ever- 
green, and therefore affording as much shelter 
and protection in the winter season, as shade 
in the summer. There is, perhaps, no living 
fence which, on all points, could match with 
an established and well-filled hedge of the 
Holly, though this is more rarely to be seen 
than one of Hawthorn. ' An excellent, durable, 
and elegant fence is obtained by an intermix- 
ture of the Holly and Hawthorn in nearly 
equal proportions. Plants intended for this 
purpose may be kept more closely together in 
the rows than others, but should be equally 
frequently transplanted, until fixed in the final 
Station. They are best planted out perma- 
nently at as early a period as possible. 
Pruning will seldom, if ever, be required by 
the plants intended for the shrubberies, the re- 
moval of an occasional stray branch being quite 
the extent to which it will, at any time, be 
required. On the other hand, plants intended 
for hedges should be kept from growing too 
rapidly upward, and hence the leading shoot 
may be very properly l'emoved from time to 
time. A flattened, or two-sided figure, may 
also be given to the plants at an early stage, 
rather than to permit them to form round 
bushes; but this pruning will be best effected 
for some time with the knife, shortening back 
the principal branches only, with the view of 
moulding the plant to its intended purpose. 
The shears will not be in requisition until the 
fence is considerably advanced ; and even 
then, except in the situations where the formal 
clipped outline may be a recommendation 
from association, the appearance of the hedge 
itself will be more pleasing if the principle 
is adopted of shortening in with a knife the 
leading and most prominent shoots only. 
Some discussion has, at different times, 
arisen as to the best season for transplanting 
evergreen trees and shrubs, such as the Holly, 
and others. Without entering into the argu- 
ments on either side, it may be sufficient here 
to remark, that they may be planted at any 
time of the year, in calm, mild, and cloudy (or 
showery) weather ; but with the greatest 
facility and safety, under such conditions, 
during the autumn and spring months. 
The more ornamental and rare species of 
Holly being principally found in damp and 
swampy places, will flourish better in situations 
where moisture is more abounding than in 
those soils which best suit the common kind. 
It is, however, by no means recommended that 
they should be planted on ground which is 
absolutely swampy ; but that which is natu- 
rally moist and cool will be found better 
adapted to them than such as are apt to be- 
come very dry and parched during the summer 
months. In any soil and situation which has 
been prepared, and rendered fit for the growth 
of trees and shrubs generally, these species of 
Holly will flourish sufficiently to display what- 
ever peculiar characters they may happen to 
possess. 
THE CINERARIA. 
ITS PROPERTIES AND CULTURE. 
There are few flowers which promise to 
reward the labours of the cultivator more than 
this singularly beautiful subject. The colours 
already produced are exceedingly brilliant, 
intense blue, shaded off to all shades of blue, 
lilac, and purple ; and crimson of all shades, 
up to pale rose, party coloured of all shades, 
and pure white centres, while the disks show, 
in some dark, in others light, such shades, in- 
deed, and colour as promise, when we can 
widen the petals, and get rid of the notch, 
which so much prevails at present, to be all 
that we could wish. The leading faults are, 
indeed, the narrow-pointed and notched petals; 
for there are many of splendid habits, and 
their long season of bloom makes them of the 
greatest use, not only in the garden, but the 
conservatory and green-house. Showy and 
varied, one mass of bloom all over, and early 
in its development, as well as lasting in its 
character, few but those who have cultivated 
them can form an idea what an acquisition 
they are to a collection of potted or bedded- 
out plants. It is worth while inquiring, before 
we go into the culture of this interesting sub- 
ject, how far the properties, as laid down by 
high authority, are likely to promote the in- 
terest of the plant, and whether any other 
attributes might not have been better than 
those for which florists now contend, not 
without some opposition. The bloom of the 
Cineraria is naturally a kind of star, formed of 
narrow petals, lengthening to a point, as it 
were, but ending in two short points, because 
a notch seems to be taken from the end, or 
