November 22. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
of St. John’s Wood, crimson and white; Celestial, 
light bine ; Countess of Zetland, i - ed ; Coronet, white 
and purple ; Cerito, white and lilac; Compacta, simi¬ 
lar to Old King; Diana Vernon, purple; Emperor, 
rosy crimson; Fair Rosamond, white tinged with 
pink; Grand Master, white and crimson, colours 
pure and distinct; Sapphire, deep blue ; Royal Crim¬ 
son ; Lady Reel, lavender; One in the Ring, white 
tipped with purple ; Zenobia, dark purple. Those 
who would aim at doing great things by hybridising 
next season, should obtain Henderson’s Pauline, 
shaded crimson, large and fine ; ditto Adela Villiers, 
white tipped with crimson; Kendall’s Richard Cob- 
den, bluish lavender; and other novelties. 
The improvement in the cultivation of the cine¬ 
raria commenced when, instead of shifting and re¬ 
potting in the manner alluded to, a system of divid¬ 
ing the stool, or, better still, growing the suckers or 
young plants that were plentifully produced from it, 
was resorted to. To effect this object most easily 
and successfully, no better plan can be adopted than 
turning the plants out of their pots into a bed in the 
open air, say in the beginning of June, planting them 
rather deep, surrounding the ball with light rich soil, 
watering them well then, and afterwards, when ne¬ 
cessary, shading with a few branches at first, and 
then dividing the stool; or, taking the best suckers 
separately in August or September, and either plant¬ 
ing them in a preparatory bed to be taken and potted 
in October, or potting them at once, and shifting 
when necessary afterwards, using rich light soil. 
From suckers thus obtained we have had plants in 
the succeeding March and April, with huge heads of 
bloom, growing in twelve and sixteen-inch pots; hut 
after Christmas they were pushed on by plunging 
them in a mild bottom heat, and the temperature of 
the air seldom helow 45°, with plenty of ventilation. 
For general purposes, a six-inch pot will give a very 
pretty useful plant; and in the case of seedlings a 
four-inch pot is quite large enough, as it can be as¬ 
sisted with manure water after the flower stem ap¬ 
pears. As the cineraria presents few attractions 
during the summer, it is of little use sowing the 
seed before May or June, as then, if you wish it, the 
plants will be early enough to flower in winter and j 
spring. The seed should be saved from the best 
varieties, and if carefully hybridized all the better. ! 
Where no particular object is aimed at, hybridization ! 
will be effected in placing the desirable varieties close 
together, and shaking their heads of bloom amongst 
each other. If even the collecting, and storing, and 
labelling of the seed is too much trouble, that too 
may be got rid of by turning out the plants as we 
have advised above before the seeds have dropped, 
and, after planting, spread some fine light soil on 
the surface, and the seeds are so accommodating 
that they will sow themselves, and thus you may 
raise and pot suckers and seedlings at the same 
time. Do not be disconcerted, however, if some 
more enthusiastic neighbour should look the state¬ 
ment that such a system was more in accordance 
with th e past than the present practice. 
If, by some oversight, your cinerarias are still in 
the blooming pots of last spring, we would, upon the 
principle of “better late than never,” divide some of 
the stools, and pot off the suckers even now, which, 
if assisted with a mild bottom heat, will make nice 
plants for late spring blooming. The others, left as 
they are, will come in early. Mind, however, that 
the cineraria, delighting though it does, when grow¬ 
ing, in a moist atmosphere, will have nothing to do 
with a stagnant one. Young plants will keep beau- | 
90 
tifully over the winter in a cold frame.or pit, pro¬ 
vided they are kept rather dry and stunted, until 
after Christmas, by withholding water, and giving 
plenty of air. They will thus stand a low tempe¬ 
rature, but nothing below 32°. If inclement weather, 
of a week or ten days' duration, should take place, 
there will be danger in such circumstances, not from 
frost, for that you may keep out by covering, but 
from damp, if you cannot give air. This danger will 
be all the greater if your plants have commenced 
growing, as then the tissues will be more soft and 
tender. In such circumstances, every opportunity 
should be taken to open the sashes, even though 
previously to doing so you might have to place in 
the pit or frame sundry large bottles filled with hot 
water. With the exception of such circumstances as 
these occurring, the plants will be more healthy and 
luxuriant in pots or boxes than when set upon 
shelves. If the plants are small, it is an easy mat¬ 
ter to push them on after February, with a mild 
bottom heat, until they show flower, as after that 
period we seldom have storms that would render 
long covering-up necessary. Those showing bloom 
now should be transferred to the window or green¬ 
house, and set in saucers. Those placed in the 
greenhouse to grow should be accommodated at its 
warmest end, and w'ould thrive better if placed on 
slates instead of wooden shelves. If not set over 
water, as recommended for the calceolaria, the shelves 
should be frequently syringed to keep the atmos¬ 
phere moist. A medium temperature of 45° will 
answer admirably. A dash from the syringe over 
the leaves will help to keep them clean. Water al¬ 
ternately with clear and manure water after the 
flower-stems appear. Fumigate with tobacco at the 
first appearance of green-fly. Robert Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCIIIDACEiE. 
FIaving, in preceding numbers, pretty fully and 
minutely described the kind of house we think best 
adapted for growing orchids, we now shall turn our 
attention to the second part of our subject, namely, 
the various methods of cultivating them: 1st, in 
pots; 2ndly, in baskets; and thirdly, on blocks; de¬ 
scribing the proper soils for the two first, and the 
best kind of wood for the last. In directing what 
should be done with newly-imported orchids, we 
slightly, in somo instances, anticipated this part of 
our subject, particularly the preparation of peat for 
potting. This point is also alluded to in the routine 
work for October, page 2U, of this volume. Still, we 
consider the proper preparation of the compost to 
grow them in of such importance, that we conceive it 
our duty to the young or inexperienced cultivator to 
consider the subject more fully. 
Proper Kind oe Peat. —The best, perhaps, in the 
whole kingdom, is found in the neigh bom b ood of 
Exeter. This peat is composed chiefly of the fine 
roots of grasses and bog-rushes : it is brownish, light, 
and porous, having very little of that black unctuous 
substance which is called “ soil” amongst it; neither 
does it contain much of decayed sphagnum, or bog- 
moss. To use a homely comparison, it is something 
like compressed shag tobacco. So well do orchids 
thrive in this peat, that several of the large growers 
round London are in the habit of sending for it even 
to that distance ; but we can scarcely expect small 
