March 17, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
457 
DOUBLE-FLOWERING ZONAL 
PELARGONIUMS. 
I must certainly concur with “ J. F.” as to the un¬ 
doubted value of these plants for winter flowering, hut 
as to his mode of treatment I think it can be improved 
in the direction of a more rapid mode of producing 
larger plants in one season. Commencing, as he does, 
by taking cuttings, and inserting in a somewhat 
similar compost in 3-in. instead of thumb pots, and 
striking in a brisk heat, they are in from three to 
four weeks fit for a shift into 6-in. pots, using a sandy 
loam, one-fourth leaf-soil, and a free admixture of bone 
meal, about an 8-in. potful to one barrowful of soil. 
Potted into this, and returned to a warm house, 
vigorous growth will ensue, which must be regulated 
by judicious pinching and removal of all bloom buds 
till after the final potting. Care must be taken when 
growing them in vineries or Peach houses that they do 
not receive shade at any time as the foliage on the trees 
expand, removing them to heated pits where they will 
be close to the glass, with a good circulation of air about 
them and room to grow. 
"With due care they should 
by the end of May be fit for 
another shift into 9-in. pots, 
using a compost as before, 
and returning them to the 
pits, where they should 
remain for a few weeks, ac¬ 
cording to the state of the 
weather ; if a settled season 
ensue, the lights can be 
drawn off altogether. By the 
end of July the final shift 
into 12-in. pots should take 
place ; this is, in my opinion, 
the latest date the plants 
should receive a shift, as 
after this any nourishment 
they may require is easily 
applied in a liquid state. 
Late potting means gross 
sappy shoots, which are 
useless for producing flowers. 
After this potting they 
should be put in a position 
where shelter can be afforded 
in case of rain, and by 
the end of September they 
should be finally housed in a 
warm, dry, light structure, 
where, with ordinary care, 
they will make a magnifi¬ 
cent display from November 
onward. As regards the size 
of the plants I do not 
consider it much out of the 
common to start with cut¬ 
tings in the spring, and 
house plants in October, 3 ft. 
in diameter, in 12-in. pots, of 
such sorts as the good old 
Guillion Mangelli, amaranth- 
scarlet, the best of all 
for continuous blooming ; 
Madame Thibaut, a pleasing 
shade of pink ; and Heroine, 
the best of the whites as yet. "What I consider the 
chief points connected with their culture are rapid 
growth in the early stages, plenty of light and air, 
and a good light rich soil. That this class of plants 
are very easily grown there is no doubt, but still they 
amply repay for good cultivation, and as a plant that 
will give a larger quantity of bloom for the least 
trouble all the year round, I believe it has no equal. I 
trust “ J. F.” will pardon my supplementing his note, 
hut still I hope these few hints will be of service to 
him, and many others, as they are hints that I have 
managed to pick up from time to time in my capacity 
as —A Grower. 
- ->:£<- - 
THE CINERARIA.* 
The Cineraria is named from cinerea, which means 
ash-coloured, alluding to the grey down covering the 
surface of the leaves, it is a large genus, containing 
many herbaceous species, and belongs to the natural 
order of composites, one of the largest classes in the 
vegetable kingdom. To give some idea of the number 
of plants belonging to this order according to the latest 
*A paper read by Mr. John Meadows, The Gardens, Rock 
House, Old Basford, Nottingham, before the members of the 
Nottingham Horticultural Society, February Sth. 
authorities, it may be mentioned that there are between 
700 and 800 genera, and about 10,000 species, and in 
Bentham and Hooker’s Genera Plantarum no less than 
370 pages are taken up with the composite family alone. 
It is also to be noted that the greater part of this large 
order are low-growing bushes, herbaceous plants, and 
annuals, very few of which grow into anything ap¬ 
proaching the dimensions of large trees ; and they are 
mostly natives of temperate climates. A quantity of 
our garden-flowering plants belong to this same order, 
as the numerous species and varieties of the Chry¬ 
santhemum, the Dahlia, the Pyrethrum, a large genus, 
and the “wee little daisies ” of which the poet Burns 
sang when following'the plough. 
“Wee modest crimson-tipped flower, 
Thou meet’st me in an evil hour, 
For I maun crush amang the stour 
Thy slender stem ; 
To spare now is past my power, 
Thou bonnie gem.” 
Few of our edible vegetables belong to this order ; 
but still there are some of importance, such as the 
Erect-flowered Gloxinia. 
Lettuce, the Artichoke, the Cardoon, and some others. 
In the Linnean system of classification, the Cineraria 
is placed, in Class 19, Syngenesia, Order 2, Superflua. 
Allow me to digress for a moment here, and say to my 
young friends who may be anxious to study botany for 
themselves that at the present day scientific men look 
upon the Linnean system of classification as being quite 
out of date. It brings into the same class plants which 
have no natural affinities, so that men of science do not 
now recognise it. I give you a local example of what 
I am now saying. Last year the Naturalists’ Society 
of this town offered prizes—and, personally, I think 
our society should do some work in the same direction— 
for the best collections of dried specimens of British 
plants, when my son was placed third instead of second 
through his collection being classified according to the 
Linnean system. 
Historical Notes. 
1 propose next to touch upon the history of the 
Cineraria, and how it has been improved from the 
narrow-petalled star-like flower of close upon fifty 
years ago to the large broad-petalled varieties we have 
on the table before us to-night. Authorities appear to 
differ somewhat as to which species our present popular 
garden varieties have sprung from. The Cottage Gar¬ 
deners' Dictionary mentions three species as being the 
original parents of them ; but a more recent authority— 
Nicholson’s Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening —says 
that our florists’ varieties have originated from C. 
cruenta, which it describes jas a greenhouse perennial, 
reddish purple in colour, introduced from the Canary 
Islands in 1777. It also describes a garden hybrid 
named C. c. Webberiana as having been raised in 1842, 
with bright blue flower heads ; and gives an illustration 
of it which I have here. No doubt it got crossed either 
artificially or otherwise from another species to produce 
the bright blue flowers mentioned. Quite recently, 
since I have been looking this subject up, I came across 
a volume of Paxton’s Magazine of Botany for 1837, and 
in the part for November of that year there is a coloured 
plate of a variety named C. Waterhousiana, raised at 
Well-head, Halifax, and named after the proprietor of 
that place. That it is the result of seed produced 
between C. tussilaginoides and C. cruenta, resembling 
in general appearance the former more than the latter, 
I have a pencil sketch here to show, which is a good 
illustration of it except in 
colour, which in the plate is 
crimson-red. Mr. J. Douglas 
(who may be looked upon 
as an authority on florists’ 
flowers), writing in The 
Garden, January 21st, 1888, 
treating on the Cineraria, 
says, amongst other matters, 
that it seems to have been 
produced from a reddish 
purple-flowered species, im¬ 
ported from the Canary 
Islands about the year 1777. 
The original species was in 
the hands of the Messrs. 
Cannell a few years ago, and 
probably they may have it 
now. From the evidence 
given above I think there 
must be a large amount of 
the blood of C. cruenta in 
our florists’varieties, but that 
it must have been crossed 
with another species to pro¬ 
duce the break in the colour. 
Looking back to half a 
century ago, what strides 
have been made in the im¬ 
provement of the flower ! 
We now have them from 
deep purple and crimsor, 
through all the inter¬ 
mediate shades down to white 
with a peuce-coloured disc. 
Looking at the flower with 
the eye of a florist, it 
should be of fair average 
size, the petals broad at the 
points or tips, and over¬ 
lapping each other, so as to 
form a perfect circle. The 
colours (if they are not 
seifs) should form perfect 
belts or rings, and the more 
distinct the disc the better. 
These are some of the points which cultivators aim at 
who grow named varieties from cuttings or suckers, and 
to produce seed of a first-class strain. Respecting the 
doubles I speak from memory, but I think it is about 
sixteen years since they were first sent out, I believe by 
a German firm, but as they are not likely to take the 
place of the singles for decorative purposes, I do not 
think it necessary to notice them further. 
Cultivation. 
Coming, then, to the practical part of our paper, to 
anyone having command of a cold frame, Cinerarias 
from seed can be raised with as much ease as can Wall¬ 
flowers sown out-of-doors, only as the seeds are smaller 
and lighter, they require more care in sowing, and 
watering afterwards. If it be required to have some in 
flower about the commencement of the new year, or 
even a month earlier, the first sowing should be made 
the latter end of April, and provided all goes well with 
it, another sowing may be made some time in July or 
early in August. This sowing will follow on the first lot, 
and flower during March, April and May, and we may 
say, from practical experience, that if all goes well with 
them, two sowings are enough for one season. I wish 
to impress upon my hearers the importance of sowing 
at the proper time, especially my young friends and 
