202 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[December 26 . ] 
materials for rustic work, a man of taste 'will give to a pre¬ 
viously unadorned spot a great variety of appearance, at little 
cost; and almost any thing that is really rough may be 
worked up. Larch poles and peeled oak tops are the mate¬ 
rials oftenest used ; hut there are many others seldom 
thought of:—Old cankered apple or thorn trees furnish good 
material; the knotty excrescences of old elms, the cones of the 
fir tribe—especially the Stone pine, hazel rods, or even the 
hollow trunk of a tree cut in lengths. The great fault in 
making rustic work is, that there is too much imitation of 
1 cabinet makers’ work; or, in fact, too much nicety is observed. 
I An old cement or tar barrel cut in two, or a few rough boards 
! formed into a hexagonal or octagonal box, will furnish a 
| foundation. 
And now I come to the second supposition, that “Fanny’s” 
; lawn is an open space, destitute of either trees or shrubs, in 
which case it would be equally ridiculous to dot the surface 
| over with beds of one particular shape or size, but would 
be better to lay them out with some geometrical design, on 
a more comprehensive scale than the plans I have given ; 
but such a plan could only be given after some information 
I as to size, shape, and nature of the surface. 
H. IT., St. Osyth Priory. 
CINERARIA CULTURE. 
It is generally admitted, that at no period of the year is 
the conservatory or greenhouse so gay with Flora’s choicest 
beauties as the end of March and the whole of April, when 
the blaze of Indian azaleas, forced rhododendrons, roses, 
acacias, and other things, assisted materially by the varied 
tints of the plaut which forms the subject of my present 
chapter, produce a display of bloom which taken in contrast, 
for the small quantity of foliage then seen, is not equalled 
at any other season. That Cinerarias tend very much—nay, 
mostly—to this unusual display, being generally acknow¬ 
ledged, a few words to the amateur, as to forming a selection 
or collection of this charming plant, may not be out of place. 
There are few things thrive better, with only indifferent 
treatment, than do Cinerarias ; avoid some two or three 
extreme points, and a tolerable share of success will follow. 
The first of these is, never to allow the least frost to touch 
them. The second is, to avoid the opposite extreme, by 
keeping them as cool as can conveniently be done, without 
endangering frost. By steering clear of these extremes, and 
attending to some other matters detailed below, the amateur 
or inexperienced gardener may fairly expect to succeed with 
this—one of the best and easiest cultivated of greenhouse 
plants. But in the first place let us commence with their 
| summer culture, beginning at the time when we suppose 
j the plants no longer worthy a place in the plant house, are 
turned often heedlessly out of doors. But while in the 
I house, and when in full bloom, we would by all means 
advise a strict attention being paid to their respective merits, 
l and carefully noted down, and if many of them be seedlings 
flowering for the first time, it is as well to put a number 
to it, and enter the description in a book of all such as are 
thought worthy of after cultivation. All inferior ones throw 
away at once, after the blooming is over, and as they are 
increased with facility, it is as well to place the criterion of 
merit pretty high. Probably the amateur may be loth to dis¬ 
card nine-tenths of his whole stock; but that is no more 
than what gardeners generally do,presuming, as is often the 
case, the bulk of them to be seedlings. Well, then, we shall 
say he has selected those he thinks worthy of preserving; 
now, in so doing, there are two objects to be considered; 
thus, he has a favourite seedling he wants to propagate, 
and would likewise wish to have seed from it too, as being 
likely to produce others equally good, or better ; unfor¬ 
tunately, Cinerarias will not always ripen seed and live 
like herbaceous calceolarias and hollyhocks; many a good 
plant has been sacrificed to the anxiety of obtaining seed 
from it. The experienced cultivator can tell by the way in 
which the plant is furnished at bottom whether it is likely 
to live to propagate from or not; but should any doubt exist 
on that point, and there be a desire to perpetuate it, regard¬ 
less of its seed, the best way is to cut off its bloom when in 
its prime—the operation seems cruel, but there is seldom 
any other way. Do not cut it too low—leave sufficient of 
foliage to enable the plant to commence a fresh growth; | 
and, if the season will admit of it, it might be set out of j 
doors at once. Our plan is, after having selected those in- j 
tended to propagate from or furnish seed, to set them any- i 
where under shelter (if it be too early to turn them out of I 
doors) and save the seed as it ripens. Those wanted to propa- 1 
gate from are sometimes indulged with a larger pot while in 1 
this state; but as sooir as the season intimates they may be | 
safely turned out, which is often aboitt the first week in ; 
May, we generally turn all the plants out of then- pots, and 
plant them in a piece of well-prepared ground, in a sheltered j 
out of-the-way place, planting them about a yard apart, and ' 
make the top of the ground fine and smooth. The advan¬ 
tages of this plan are twofold. Those plants before being j 
pot-bound can now ramify at pleasure in a compost to tlieir I 
liking, while the seed in ripening requires no attention—as, j 
falling on a well-prepared bed, it germinates speedily, aird j 
with only occasional waterings to preserve the young plants ; 
against the scorching effects of a midsummer sun, they . 
require no other attendance. The young plants are almost 
sure to come up as thick as weeds ; and the old ones will 
also throw out numerous side shoots—that is, if they live. 
Previous to planting them out as above, I used to set the ' 
pots on some suitable place, for the seed to fall and grow ; i 
but I find planting out is attended with less -trouble in 
watering, and gives the old plant a better chance to recover. 
It may be proper to remark, that if it be a very sunny place, 
it will be necessary to shade the ground with something when 
the seedlings are coming up, as they do not like too much i 
sunshine; in fact, they do better under a north wall than I 
anywhere; in such a place it is common to see them spring j 
up in hundreds on a bed of coal-ashes, or between the stones 
of a pavement ; and many good plants have I collected from 
such a place. But, as I have remarked, a bed on purpose is 
hotter for both parent and progeny; both of which we shall 
presume to be progressing so favourably, as entirely to cover j 
the ground by the end of July, soon after which the potting j 
may take place, as it is better to do so before the plants get into 1 
too gross a habit; the beginning of August is a very good time ; 
for that operation ; the old plants may be taken up at the same ! 
time, and divided as much as necessary. By beginning with ! 
them thus early they get well established in their pots, and j 
have two or three shifts before winter, and some of them are 
likely to flower in November ; whereas, if they are left in the 
ground, and even standing pretty thin, they get rank ; and ! 
the mutilation that invariably attends taking-up and potting, I 
is often such as to cause most of the flower-shoots which 
show themselves to become, what gardeners term, blind—a 
misfortune also common with most of the flower-buds that ! 
are formed in the dark days,—so that we have established ! 
the rule of cutting away all such flower-stems as are not i 
pretty near expanding their blooms by the firstof November. | 
Means must, therefore, be taken to hasten those likely to j 
flower in autumn, otherwise to stop them altogether, as the i 
miserable appearance they generally present in mid-winter j 
makes it a pity sacrificing good plants for such an uncertain 
service ; but when they can be made to bloom in autumn, 
which they are easily encouraged to do, nothing adds so \ 
much to the interest of the houses at that untoward season. | 
Those showing flower-stems in September had better be only 
sparingly potted ; and if the pot could be plunged in some 
warm material, with the top out, the chances of its flowering 
will be much increased, but the great mass of the plants are 
expected only to grow in autumn, and be ready to flower 
early in spring; repeated shifting will, therefore, be neces¬ 
sary ; only after the first of November let those sliiftings be 
on a sparing scale; it is better then to partially check the 
luxuriance of the plant, and thereby husband its resources. 
At inter is fast approaching, and they cannot always be 
allowed the best places ; therefore, when they have to 
endure most of the season in a cold frame, and in severe 1 
weather often covered up for several days, they ought not to 
be in too delicate a state on entering the immuring season. 
AY hen they can have the advantage of a house or pit, heated | 
so as to exclude frost and admit the light, they are of course . 
better off; but the number of other plants requiring the 
same attention at this season, too often ousts a lot of 
undetermined seedling Cinerarias. Therefore, when such j 
threatens to be their fate, they must be trained for it. 
Although we have said they will endure a period of con- 
