April 10, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
501 
carefully supplied, and the case ventilated constantly, 
except in the winter, when much less water is needed, 
and the case can be kept closed for some time without 
injury.— R. JR. 
-->X<-- 
SOWING CINERARIAS. 
All who grow plants for greenhouse decoration 
include some Cinerarias amongst their most useful 
plants, and as we are now sowing seed for the earliest 
batches, a few hints may be of service to my younger 
brethren. With the Cineraria, like most other plants, 
to ensure success they must be treated well from their 
earliest stages, and at no time must they have a check 
from being too dry, or the best culture in other respects 
will fail to produce good results. Prepare a compost of 
light sandy loam and leaf-mould in equal parts, run it 
through a fine sieve, and use the rough portions for 
draining the seed-pans after the crocks are placed in. 
The leaf-soil must be free from pieces of mouldy wood 
or any impure substance of that kind, as Cinerarias are 
very delicate in their young state. When the pans are 
filled with the soil, the surface is levelled and pressed 
with the bottom of a pot ; the seed is sown thinly and 
lightly covered with the finest portion of the soil. 
Water carefully with a fine rose-can, and place the pans 
in a warm frame, where they can be properly shaded. 
It is a good plan to cover the pans with pieces of glass, 
as these prevent a too rapid evaporation from the 
soil. When the seedlings are well above the soil, they 
should be transplanted into other pans, large pots, or 
boxes, but must be placed in cool, light, well venti¬ 
lated positions ; not, however, where they will be 
checked by cold draughts, or liable to be dried up by 
the sun. They are subsequently transferred into 60 
pots, and then into 48’s, 32’s, and 24’s, for we flower 
some in each size, though our finest specimens are ob¬ 
tained in the last named. A richer soil is used for 
these pottings, namely, more substantial loam, leaf- 
soil, and a little old manure. Water is freely supplied 
throughout the summer, as drought is injurious. — B 
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AUBRIETIAS. 
The pretty little Aubretias suffered badly during 
the past winter, especially where they had a position 
on rather low moist soils ; many of the plants turned 
so brown, and looked so supremely miserable, that they 
appeared to be quite dead. Happily, the spring 
weather is reviving many of them ; but it is to be feared 
that an almost entire loss of flowers will ensue in some 
instances. I find that seedling plants of last summer 
planted out in the open ground are dead. Perhaps, it 
was because they had not the firm hold upon the soil 
that older established plants possessed ; and one lesson 
taught by the past winter in reference to Aubrietias is, 
that it is well not to plant out seedlings until spring—- 
say at the end of March. 
There are two supposed species of Aubrieties, viz., 
deltoidea, introduced from the Levant in the beginning 
of 1700, and A. purpurea, from Greece, which did not 
put in an appearance until one hundred years after¬ 
wards. It is supposed, however, that the latter is but 
a variety of the first named. From time to time many 
seedlings have been produced, such as Campbelli, Hen- 
dersoni, grseca, Eyrei, violacea, and others, generally 
deep in colour and large in size, and affording a pleasing 
variety. How useful they are for spring work is known to 
many ; but if there is one place more than another where 
they can be seen to advantage, it is in that unrivalled 
spring garden at Belvoir Castle, where Mr. William 
Ingram uses them so extensively on the sunny slopes, 
where in early spring, sheltered from cutting winds 
and warmed by the sun’s influence, they flower with a 
profusion that must be seen to be appreciated. A few 
years ago Sir. Ingram raised some seedlings having 
pink tints in the blossoms, but I am not certain if he 
raised anything sufficiently distinct to be employed in 
association with the blue forms. Still, there is much 
good work of this kind done at Belvoir that is rarely 
made known outside the domain. 
How Aubrietias are so accommodating that they will 
grow almost anywhere. Mr. Robinson has given an 
excellent description of it as “a little Alpine that will 
succeed on any soil, and never fails to flower abundantly; 
even should the cutting winds of spring shear all the 
verdure of the budding Weeping Willow.” This vindi¬ 
cates its hardihood, and one excellent use to which the 
Aubrietias can be put is for covering rock-work, old 
stone walls, &e. ; while they make excellent edging 
plants. I have alluded to the use made of them at 
Belvoir as carpet plants ; and gardeners should take a 
lesson from this, and find them exceedingly useful for 
carpeting beds of early spring flowering bulbs. For 
this purpose the Aubrietias might be grown in pots, 
and the pots plunged in the beds in autumn or early 
spring, lifting them in spring and again plunging in 
cinder ashes during summer. 
Propagation is easy enough—it can be done either by 
root division or by seeds. The best time to divide is 
after the plants have gone out of flower ; planting the 
pieces in a bed on a shady moist spot, pressing the soil 
firmly about them. They soon root and grow into nice 
tufts by the following spring. Seeds can be sown in pans 
as soon as they are ripe, the same being placed in a cold 
frame, and when large enough be pricked off into store 
boxes, kept in a cold frame for a time till established, 
and then stood out in the open air preparatory to being 
planted out. 
There is no common name for the Aubrietia, though 
it is allied to the Arabis or Wall Cress. It was named 
after M. Aubriets, a French botanist. But it is one of 
the most useful plants a gardener can grow for spring 
use ; he can cover many a barren and naked spot with 
it, however open and exposed they may be, and there 
is a large tribe for the seedling raiser. Having now so 
many shades of purple, something distinct in the 
way of colour is required. Let the raiser of seedlings 
try in the direction of distinctly blue and pink shades, 
for they will be found very useful indeed.— E. JR. 
THE PARSNIP. 
I wonder who was the first person who began to 
cultivate the wild Parsnip of Europe as an article of 
food. We are told on authority that “in Britain it 
is met with very generally on dry banks in a chalky 
soil. In its wild state the root is white, aromatic, 
mucilaginous, and sweet with a degree of acrimony, 
and particularly when old they have been known to 
cause vertigo. Willis relates that a whole family fell 
into delirium from having eaten the roots, and cattle 
never touch it in its wild state ; but when cultivated, 
it is thick, fleshy, sweet, and mucilaginous. In 
domestic economy they are very much used, and are a 
highly nutritious vegetable ; in times of scarcity an 
excellent bread has been made from the roots, and they 
also furnish an excellent wine, resembling the Malinsey 
of Madeira, and the Canaries.” But who gave it the 
name of Parsnip ? I suppose it is simply a corruption 
of the botanical name Pastinaca saliva. 
Some seed catalogues give a long list of the varieties 
of the Parsnip; I believe in but one only. I sometimes 
read criticisms on Parsnips by some writers who see 
marked differences between certain varieties and set 
them down with the greatest confidence. It is so easy 
to create imaginary differences; if any differences exist, 
they are the results of good or bad cultivation. There 
are fine selected Parsnips, and there are those of an 
inferior stock, but they are not different varieties. He 
who sets himself resolutely to work to select a fine stock 
of any popular vegetable, or a distinct variety of a 
particular vegetable does a good work. Some go a step 
farther and make commercial ventures of their selec¬ 
tions, and get an advanced price for an old friend 
under a new name, but they do not create a new variety 
by doing this, though they distinguish it with the 
name of one. 
When I was in the wholesale seed trade thirty years 
ago, the common garden Parsnip was asked for under, 
at least, fourteen different names, according to the part 
of the country from which the order came, but all were 
served out of one bin. I remember when the Student 
Parsnip came out, it was said at the time to have resulted 
from a cross made between the wild and cultivated 
Parsnip by Prof. Buckman. It was sent out in packets, 
and at the time I was in the trade we purchased 
some from the original vendors, and grew it by the side 
of our best stocks of Parsnips, and failed to detect any 
appreciable difference ; but there were gardeners up 
and down the country who wrote elaborate articles 
demonstrating the differences they saw—or thought 
they saw, which amounted to the same thing—between 
the old and the new. A good stock of the ordinary 
Hollow Crowned Parsnip gives a gardener all that ho 
requires. 
In the Isle of Guernsey Parsnips grow very fine indeed, 
probably owing to the fact that sea-weed is used as a 
manure. Thus it is that the Large Guernsey Parsnip 
has come to be looked upon as a distinct variety ; but 
it is not really so. The apparant difference in the 
variety is all the difference between a bad and a good 
stock. 
It was the remark of an old gardener that “the 
Parsnips delights in a deep rich soil;” that is the 
expressive method of stating that it flourishes best in 
such soil. It should have deeply trenched ground— 
3 ft. deep if possible—for the Parsnip sends its long 
tapering root down a considerable distance, and plenty 
of good manure should be worked in with it. A good 
Parsnip is sometimes truly spoken of as “buttery '— 
it is a deep rich soil that gives to the root that pleasant 
characteristic ; and as the Parsnip takes a long time to 
mature, the ground should be deeply dug and manured 
before Christmas, and the seeds sown as soon as 
possible afterwards. I am in favour of sowing early in 
February, when the weather permits ; but this season 
late sowing is the rule—the frost dominates, and the 
worker is "hut out from operating with the soil. Drill 
sowing is better than broadcast sowing. There should 
be a space of from 12 ins. to 14 ins. between the drills, 
and the plants in the drills should be thinned out to 
1 ft. apart. To have fine Parsnips, it is a good plan to 
dibble in the seeds, making a hole 1 ft. in depth, filling 
it up with choice rich potting soil, and covering the 
seeds i in. in depth. It will pay to do this under 
ordinary garden culture; it is of considerable importance 
in the case of exhibition Parsnips. 
It not necessary to speak of summer culture, as the 
practice of keeping the bed clear of weeds and the 
An Ornamental Plant Case for Rooms. 
