52 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOCUST 
[ APEIL, 
time. Some were put into a tank above one 
of tlie boilers in tbe pine stove, wliere the water 
was never under 90°, and oftener as high as 
110° and 120°—a temperature which did not 
seem to discommode them much ; but they be¬ 
came sluggish in their habits, and when the 
pipes were hot, and the water consequently 
very warm also, they came to the surface and 
remained there, often putting their mouths out 
of the water as if to breathe, though I suppose 
that would not be their object. The tank in 
which they bred so freely was only 9 in. 
deep, and had a bed of soil in the centre, 
from which the mud distributed itself all 
over the bottom, and in this the fish, no doubt, 
found an eligible spawning-ground. They 
were left to take care of themselves as regards 
feeding, and the water was kept fresh by 
allowing a tap to trickle slowly into the tank 
during the day. When the fish became numer¬ 
ous, it was a very pretty and interesting sight 
to see them glinting about among the leaves 
of the aquatics.—C.” 
CINERARIAS, SINGLE AND DOUBLE. 
/vERHAPS one of the most remarkable 
strides made of late years among florist 
flowers is to be seen in the ‘ single ’ varie¬ 
ties of the Cineraria , Mr. James’s shown at 
South Kensington and the Regent’s Park were 
as near perfection as it seems possible to arrive at. 
Many of your readers will remember the 
original rude, starry-shaped flowers, remark¬ 
able only for their large daisy-like disk or eye 
surrounded by a few thin narrow ray florets. 
These are happily things of the past. The 
Cineraria of the present day is of dwarf com- 
