372 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[March 13. 
I 
Salpixantha coccinea (Scarlet S.); Jamaica. 3s. 6d. 
-—A very pretty winter flowering plant with tubular 
scarlet blooms, wliite inside. They are produced on 
short racemes from the axils of the upper leaves. The 
foliage is handsome, of a dark glossy green. It is a 
rather new plant, of considerable beauty at a season of 
the year when flowers are scarce, and belongs to the 
large Natural Order Acantliads. The flowers very much 
resemble those of an Epacris. 
iSW.—Like most of its congeners this plant loves a 
light moderately rich soil. Turfy loam, peat soil, and 
vegetable mould, in equal parts, with about one-eighth 
of river sand, will grow it satisfactorily. 
Propagation. By Guttings. —The young shoots form the 
best cuttings. Take them off about three inches long, 
put them singly into thumb-pots filled with the compost, 
excepting a thin layer of sand on the surface, first trim¬ 
ming off tbe lower leaves and leaving the two uppermost 
on. By placing them in these pots at first there is no 
trouble or check in re-potting. Place them under a 
hand-glass on a heated surface of sand, giving a gentle 
watering at first, and repeating it when necessary, 
shading from bright sun. They strike so easily and 
certainly, that there is no necessity for putting them 
into a cutting pot and using bell-glasses. As soon as 
they emit roots, give some air and less shade for a fort¬ 
night, and then re-pot them into pots two sizes larger, 
about three inches in diameter. They are then ready for 
Summer Culture. —As soon as they have filled their 
pots with roots, re-pot them a second time into six-inch 
pots. If they have grown four inches high, nip off the 
top buds to make them throw out side shoots, and form 
compact bushes. Keep them in the stove, giving them 
plenty of water, frequently syringing them over head, 
and keeping up the usual moisture in the air of the 
house. In July, if there is that convenience, place 
these plants in tbe cold frame, treating them the same 
in respect to air and water as is described for the Fran- 
cisceas. Towards the end of September bring tbe 
Salpixantha out of the frame, wash the pots, top dress 
the soil, and tie the plants up neatly into a handsome 
form ; but do not stop them any more, as it is from the 
young shoots the flowers will he produced. Place them 
in the stove at not more than two feet from the glass; 
continue watering moderately at the roots, but do not 
syringe so freely, the object being now to induce, by 
a drier atmosphere, short growths to produce a dense 
mass of bloom. The temperature, also, for the same 
purpose should be reduced, and this happily suits the 
rest of the stove-plants. The flowers will begin to appear 
in December, and will be produced in succession through 
January and February. After the flowering season is 
over tbe plants should be cut down ; and as most stove 
plants are benefited by that operation, we shall finish 
our remarks this week with a few practical observations 
on that point of culture. 
Cutting uown shrubby Stove-Plants. — If stove- 
shrubs are allowed to continue growing on without 
pruning they will soon become unwieldy, long-legged, 
straggling, and unsightly. To bring them into form, 
and cause them to be shapely handsome bushes, it will 
be necessary to give them annually a severe pruning; in 
some instances even to cut them down to within six 
inches or a foot of the pot, according to the strength and 
size of the plants. This applies more particularly to the 
plants belonging to the Natural Order Acantliads ; such* 
for instance, as Justicias, Eranthemums, Barterias, 
Aphelandras, Glerodendrums, and several other of similar 
habits belonging to various orders. The right time for 
this operation is almost immediately after the flowering 
season, which will happen, of course, at various seasons 
of the year. Whenever that takes places, cut them down 
to such heights as the judgment of the cultivator may see 
fit. Now it is a well-known principle that the fewer the 
leaves the less supply of nutriment is required for the 
support of the plant; therefore, when a plant is suddenly 
deprived of all, or the greater part, of its foliage it should, 
in a great measure, be deprived of moisture, both at the 
root and in the air. Give no water, then, to newly cut 
down plants for at least a fortnight after the operation, 
and then no more than is absolutely necessary to prevent 
the roots perishing, or the soil from shrinking from the 
sides of the pots. Follow this apparently starving sys¬ 
tem till the plants begin to push out new leaves. As 
soon as these have attained some size, take the plants 
j into the potting shed, turn them out of the pots, reduce the 
ball of earth considerably, but carefully, so as not to 
injure the main roots, repot them in fresh compost, give 
them a very gentle watering, and replace them in the 
stove. If a bark-bed is in tbe stove the plants will be 
all the better for the stimulus they would have by being 
plunged in it. After they have made considerable 
growth, and have become clothed with shoots and foliage, 
they may be treated in the same way as the young plants 
that have not been cut down. T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Cinerarias. —Continue to protect them from frost, 
and as they begin to come into bloom remove them out of 
the pit into the greenhouse. They will then require a 
constant and plentiful supply of water, because the air of 
the greenhouse is much drier than that of the frame or pit. 
Those intended to grow into large plants either for mere 
ornament, or for exhibition, should have timely fresh 
potting; for if the roots become too closely matted in 
small pots, the plants will be stunted and the heads of 
bloom small and badly coloured. See back numbers for 
instructions about other florists’ flowers. Shelter attend 
to particularly, as the plants are very tender with the 
mild weather of this season, and will be more liable to 
suffer from the frost in consequence. T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Routine Work. — Basil, street marjoram, leans and 
peas of late varieties, borage and borecole, early Cape 
brocolis, burnet, coleworts, cauliflowers, capsicums, lettuce, 
onions, parsnips, parsley, &c., should now all be sown in 
full crop; and as soon as plants of any kind of crop 
make their appearance, the surface of the soil should be 
lightly harrowed, or one-way raked. Shallow surface 
hoeing between the drills of small plants will also be 
beneficial; but a good deep scarifying will be more 
serviceable about the established crops. 
Framing. —Maintain a uniform kindly growing heat. 
If the frames or pits are heated by fermenting materials, 
they should, previously to applying them, be well 
wrought by frequently turning, parting, and intermixing, 
so as to sweeten and prevent their burning, cakeing, or 
binding together. The heat should be applied to the 
top, by frequently adding to that part of the linings, and 
protecting it with dry mulch. The sides should be 
protected with thatched hurdles, or some kind of refuse, 
as previously directed, for maintaining a kindly heat, 
and keeping the plants and interior dry, which is a most 
essential point for the prevention of canker, mildew, 
or vermin. The forcing asparagus should he supplied 
with tepid liquid manure water, as well as French beans 
in pots. Sow and transplant in succession. Let the 
soil now be, for their growth, a little more loamy, as the 
lighter soils will be likely to get dry very often; and if 
the application of water be at all neglected, they are 
very liable to be infested with the thrip or red spider. 
Frames, pits, or other forcing structures, should occa¬ 
sionally be white-washed over with hot lime. Take two 
