70 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[May, 
make grand beds, either mixed or planted in 
separate colours, and patches of about three 
plants set at five or six inches apart in the 
mixed borders are very effective. 
Like most other free-growing double flowers 
the double Zinnias delight in and indeed 
require a rich and deep soil. Where it can 
be done the bed should bo specially prepared 
for them by breaking up the ground two 
spades’ deep, and working in a good dressing 
of good old hot-bed manure, a considerable 
portion of which should be incorporated with 
the lower portion of the stirred soil, so as to 
be out of the way of the roots while the 
plants are young, and to come in to nourish 
them later on when their roots have had time 
to strike deeper, and their flower buds begin 
to develop. 
The seed may be sown at the middle or 
towards the end of April in a pit or frame 
where a mild warmth is kept up. They soon 
germinate in this position, and then require to 
be set up close to the glass so as to prevent 
them from becoming drawn up. The seeds 
should be sown thinly, and when the young 
plants are well up they should have all the 
light that can be given them, and a supply of 
fresh air daily, the latter being increased in 
quantity as they progress. When the plants 
are large enough to handle, that is, when the 
first pair of leaves are starting from between 
the cotyledons, they should be pricked out, 
an inch or two apart, in boxes of rich light 
earth, so as to encourage the promotion of 
abundant fibrous roots, and also to act as a 
check to prevent them growing up spindly, 
for sturdy stocky plants are much more satis¬ 
factory to bed out. If by any mischance the 
seedlings should show signs of damping off 
they should have this pricking out or trans¬ 
plantation at an earlier stage, indeed as soon 
as the evil is observed, as by this means it 
may generally be kept in check. 
When the young plants are established in 
the boxes, and have been well inured to air, 
they may be set in a shallow cold frame, when 
they may still have abundant light, and on 
mild days may be freely exposed by removing 
the sashes during a portion of the day, at 
first for an hour or two, but gradually in¬ 
creasing the exposure till they are able to 
stand open the whole day when the weather 
permits. If well hardened in this way they 
may towards the end of May be planted out in 
the beds prepared for them, and where they are 
to bloom. In planting out they should have 
plenty of room to develop as, if well fed, 
they will branch very freely ; the rows may 
therefore be set out at one foot apart, and the 
plants should be the same distance asunder 
in the rows, in order to have space for the 
development of their branches. The situation 
chosen for them should be warm and sheltered, 
and fully exposed to the sun, as they like a 
bright light, which improves their colours. 
The young plants should at first have a small 
stick to steady them against wind, but when 
they begin to get established they will need 
no further support, but will be able to bear up 
against all ordinary conditions of wind or rain. 
When the bloom buds first show a good 
mulching of rich manure should be applied, 
and copious waterings must be given whenever 
dry weather sets in. With this treatment the 
plants should bloom well, and give a good 
return for the attention paid to them. 
The accompanying figure gives a good idea 
of the habit of the double-flowered Zinnia 
elegans, which seldom exceeds two feet in 
height, and yields various colours, including 
white, yellow, buff, orange, scarlet, crimson, 
rose-colour, and purple—some of these in 
very rich and pleasing shades. A mixed 
group has a very pleasing effect, but if it is 
preferred the principal colour can be pur¬ 
chased separately, and come sufficiently true 
for all ordinary arrangements.—T. Moore. 
SHADING FOR ORCHIDS. 
f ^^HIS is a subject of the greatest import¬ 
ance in Orchid culture, and one that is 
often overlooked until it is too late— 
the mischief being done. It should be 
understood that Shading does not consist of 
merely daubing upon the glass some opaque 
material, such as paint, “ summer cloud,” 
whitening, or the like, which, though all very 
well as palliatives in positions where rollers 
cannot be used, such as at the ends and sides 
of a house, are greatly to be deprecated as a 
means of shading the roof: for this reason, that 
in our English climate we are so subject to 
sudden changes of the weather that, were such 
