320 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDEJS/ER. 
f April 22, 1886. 
with the other ingredients as before, should form the mixture. The whole 
of the soil is passed through the half-inch sieve for the 5-inch pots, after 
that only the manure and leaf soil is sifted. 
SUMMER TREATMENT. 
About the beginning of June the plants should he transferred from 
the Melon pit to a cold pit or frame, where they can be kept close to the 
glass. If a stage of boards was to be erected for that purpose place a 
layer of coal ashes on the boards before setting the plants thereon, as the 
ashes will retain the moisture from the syringing and watering, and con¬ 
sequently keep the atmosphere about the plants in a humid state, so 
necessary to insure perfect health. Throughout the summer months the 
best aspect for the frame in which they are grown is due noith, but failing 
that the foot of a west wall will do, only then the plants will require 
more shade. When the former aspect can be obtained they will require 
but little shade, none being given when the sun is high and strikes 
directly on the plants, and it should be removed early in the afternoon, 
according to the weather. On bright days the plants should be slightly 
syringed between four and five in the afternoon, and about half an inch 
of ventilation left on the back of the frame, or more if the weather is still 
bright and warm. I was once very much puzzled to know why so many 
plants under my charge went oil in a way peculiar to Cinerarias during 
the summer months ; the more so because I knew they were not over¬ 
watered, neither were the plants potted deeply, and on turning them 
out of the pots the roots appeared quite healthy, although the plants were 
drooping beyond recovery. On examination I found in every case they 
succumbed at the collar, and when the stem was broken at that point it 
was found black in the centre. After much consideration I thought it 
must be caused by closing the frame at syringing time, as I had been 
in the habit of doing up till that time to push the plants on, being 
opened again in the evening. I then regularly left air on, as described 
above, at syringing time, and since then have had no trouble with the 
plants. During the fine dewy nights of July and August the lights should 
be taken off and replaced early the next morning. This helps greatly to 
keep the plants vigorous and sturdy. At the beginning of September 
they should be transferred to a pit facing the south, and should the 
weather be bright they will require shading with some light material for 
a time ; but all shading should now he gradually dispensed with till the 
plants are able to bear full sunshine without flagging to any great extent, 
and in order to assist them to do that damp between the plants with a 
syringe morning and afternoon whenever the weather is very bright. 
Abundance of air should now be given on all favourable occasions, but 
avoid the cutting winds which are often prevalent at this season of 
the year, 
TREATMENT FROM OCTOBER TILL APRIL. 
There can be but little doubt that the best structures for wintering the 
plants in are span-roofed houses or pits furnished with hot-water pipes, 
which would only require to be heated sufficiently to keep out the frost 
and expel damp. But it is not everyone that is so fortunate as to be aole 
to devote such structures to Cinerarias. It is, therefore, convenient to 
know they may be kept fairly well in well-built pits, but great attention 
is necessary to kepp the damD and frost from injuring them. To guard 
against the former give the plants plenty of room for the air to circulate 
freely among them; be very careful not to give too much water at the 
roots, and ventilate on all possible occasions consistent with their well 
being in other respects. To keep out frost plenty of covering material 
must be placed over every part of the pit in severe weather, with mats 
and shutters over the lights, and a good covering of fern around the sides 
and on the shutters the plants will be safe from 20° or 30° of frost. 
About the end of December when the late Grapes have been cut and the 
houses cleaned these structures make capital quarters for them while they 
are kept coo), and as they come into flower can be removed to the green¬ 
house or conservatory. During the flowering period, if placed in large 
houses with plate glass roofs, they will require no shade, but when kept in 
houses with ordinary glass roofs, especially if the houses are small, a light 
shading will be necessary during very bright weather to prolong their 
season of beauty, as the weather we often experience in March is very 
bright and trying and die resses the plants a great deal if they are not 
shaded. We are seldom troubled with green fly till the plants flower, and 
on the first appearance of the insect the house is fumigated lightly on two 
successive nights and repeated again when required. 
WATERING. 
Any remarks upon the culture of the Cineraria would he singularly 
incomplete if they did not c ntain a few hints concerning this important 
operation, which is one of the greatest factors in bringing success or 
failure. Throughout the whole of their existence they require the exercise 
of great care and judgment in watering. There are times when the plants 
are liable to be permanently injured by having too little water, and at 
other times one dose too much would be fatal. When grown in the posi¬ 
tions and given the treatment indicated above comparatively little water 
is required during the summer months, for the obvious reason that if the 
plants are shifted as soon as the roots reach the sides of the pots they are 
continually having fresh food supplied before the bulk of the soil is 
permeated by a network of active roots, and consequently do not absorb 
the moisture from the soil very quickly ; they should, therefore, not have 
water given until the pots give a sharp sound when rapped and then be 
watered thoroughly. If kept in pits during the dull days of autumn very 
little water will be required, but as the days gradually lengthen the sun 
becomes more powerful and the soil in the pots is filled with roots, supplies 
will be required much more frequently, and neglect in this matter is 
sure to tell the tale, though not always at the time. I have known plants 
completely collapse at this stage, which to the casual observer appeared to 
be suffering from the effects of too much water, the soil being very sodden 
when the plant first showed signs of distress, but which was really 
brought about in the first place by their once getting thoroughly dry. 
Many of the young fleshy roots then died. The plant was watered two or 
three times over with the result that the soil was completely saturated, 
and as many of the roots were already dead, and those left not in the best 
condition to perform their proper functions, so that instead of the 
moisture being drawn out quickly, as would be the case if the roots were 
active and healthy, remained saturated for a long time, and causes the 
plant to go off at the collar. When this occurs, if the stem is cut 
through, it will always be found black in the centre just above the soil. 
We give no liquid manure water till after the final potting ; and when 
roots are plentiful then it is given at each alternate watering for a time 
afterwards every time the plants are watered till they come into flower, 
then it is discontinued and clear water given. Drainings from the 
manure heap, or that made from cowdung, are both excellent, but should 
be used in a greatly diluted state ; and if soot water is given once a week 
the beneficial effects will soon be apparent by the rich green colour of the 
leaves.—H. Dunkin, Longford Castle Gardens. 
P.tj.—A printer’s error occurred in my article last week. The sentence 
should read, “ Take great care not to bury (not wring) the collars of the 
young plants.”—H. D. 
EUPHORBIA JACQUINLEFLORA. 
At this season of the year this lovely stove plant may be readily pro¬ 
pagated. This Euphorbia is reputedly a short-lived plant, which I consider 
due in a great measure to overwateriug it at the roots and to general in¬ 
judicious management, especially when planted out. It makes but few 
roots and requires but little room, and is always safest when the soil is 
kept rather dry. A stove temperature is required at all times, and a mix¬ 
ture of equal parts of peat and loam, with abundance of sand or very 
sandy peat; liquid manure or manures of any description I seldom use in 
its cultivation, and 1 have been successful in propagating and grow¬ 
ing it. 
To produce it in quantity I select a dozen plants which have been 
flowering during the winter in 48-sized pots ; and turning them out of pots 
plant them thickly at one end of the stove where there is a temperature of 
from 65° to 75° maintained. Here they soon begin to push forth new 
growths from the uppermost parts of the old wood ; these are the best 
for propagating purposes, securing them when about 3 inches long. To 
insure success with the cuttings they must be detached with a heel from 
the old plant, without this the cuttings and labour are lost. Prior to 
taking the cuttings the pots should be in readiness to receive them, and 
not more should be severed from the old plant at any one time than may 
be inserted and covered before they droop, which they do in a compara¬ 
tively short time, consequent upon the milky sap which exudes from the 
base of the cuttings. This bleeding may be reduced to a minimum if the 
cuttings as soon as detached are thrust into some very dry silver sand. I 
lay considerable stress on keeping the cuttings quite fresh and plump and 
not allowing them to suffer in the smallest degree, and indeed it is to this 
I attribute my success, since experience has clearly shown that those 
cuttings which have once been allowed to droop do not readily recover. 
Insert the cuttings in sandy peat, surfaced with about half an inch of 
dry silver sand, which will follow the dibble into the bole, and allow the 
cutting to rest upon it. Plunge the pots in a bottom heat of 75° to 85°, 
and cover tightly with a bellglass. I employ 48-sized pots for the 
cuttings on account of the difficulty experienced in getting bellglasses 
to fit certain pots, and by plunging these in 7-inch pots with cocoa-nut 
fibre, and placing the glasses on, they are rendered comparatively air¬ 
tight. Give a thorough watering at the time of inserting the cuttings, 
and take care that the sun does not reach them. In this bottom heat 
they will emit roots in two or three weeks, when they may be removed 
from the pots in which they were plunged, and the glasses removed also, 
placing them for a few days in a shaded part rf the house. At this 
stage it should be decided for what purpose they are destined. If required 
for the production of lengthened racemes of flowers they must not be 
stopped at all, but grown on liberally and kept near the glass ; if smaller 
racemes are likely to be more in demand they may be stopped once or 
twice, removing only the tip of the shoot, and thus secure as many breaks 
as possible on the stem. This, perhaps, is best done when the plants are 
potted singly and have made frosh roots. 
In potting press the soil firmly about them, and remember that a free 
drainage is essential. There is really no particular time of the year to 
propagate this lovely stove Spurge, for it will root any time from January 
to midsummer, or longer if cuttings are obtainable. The advantage of 
continuing their propagation to a late date is that various sizes of plants 
which may be used in a variety of ways may be obtained. The latest 
batch will do capitally for 5-inch pots, disposing them among foliage and 
other flowering plants in the warm conservatory or stove ; the earlier 
batches should have more room, receiving their final shift about the middle 
or end of August into 6-inch pots, using equal parts of peat and loam, with 
plenty of sharp grit, and pot firmly. 
During the winter months it is surprising what a quantity of its 
brilliant flowers it will yield, either in small compact bits so charmingly 
adapted for buttonhole flowers, or in long wreath-like arching racemee, 
which are so much valued for vases, for table decoration, or for ladies 
head dress. When used thus it is one of those exceptional floral charms 
that furnishes foliage with flower, and needs nothing beyond its own leaves 
