214 
MIGNONETTE FOE WINTER. 
means are at hand, it must be admitted that there are some 
which form neater specimens from spring cuttings, as the dwarf 
lobelias, cupheas, penstemons, and a few others are of this class; 
but, as we must provide parents for even these cuttings, I would 
advise an immediate endeavour to provide an ample supply of 
everything likely to be wanting in the next year’s stock of 
bedding plants. 
Eainham. F. S. Sheen. 
MIGNONETTE FOR THE WINTER. 
Those who desire to have healthy and handsome mignonette 
in the winter and spring months, should be reminded to provide 
it at once. The great point in the production of this plant at 
the time mentioned, is to have the specimens thoroughly well- 
rooted and firmly established in the pots before the dull weather 
sets in. The requisite number of pots should be prepared with¬ 
out delay ; drain them well and fill to the brim with turfy loam 
and leaf-mould ; level the surface, and sprinkle the seed thinly 
over it; press it down, but do not cover the seed at all. The 
pots may be placed in a cold frame or some warm part of the 
garden; and, with ordinary attention to watering, the seed will 
vegetate in about a fortnight. 
When the plants have grown half an inch high, they should be 
thinned, leaving only three or four in each pot; and from this 
time onward through the autumn they should be fully exposed 
to the air, so as to have their growths thoroughly matured as they 
are produced; it is only the weak, unripened shoots that fall 
victims to damp and mildew : and if the plants are grown in the 
hardy manner described, there will be little trouble with them 
subsequently. The first blooms produced by the principal stems 
should be picked off: this encourages the development of the 
side shoots, and consequently increases the number of flowers, 
and thus their value is greatly increased. 
Early in October it will be necessary to place them in frames 
as a precautionary measure against frost, but in the daytime and 
