AUGUST 1, 1902. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 9 
Sez Nie Children in Out-door 
“< GINERARIAS. > ae 
OWARDS the end of July the glasshouses 
6) in the public Botanical Gardens are 
a constant source of attraction to visitors, 
and with good reason. ‘There lovers of the 
beautiful in bloom linger with longing gaze 
and expressions of admiration upon the de- 
lightful hues of the richest colourings and 
sweetly pretty tints of the Cinerarias. The 
sight gives rise to many a heartfelt wish that 
the visitors could grow flowers so delightful 
to adora their own homes. And why should 
they not 2? Many 2nd many a window look- 
which is a common practice, and a happyidea, 
too, of the professional gardener, but grown 
in the beds from seedlings. This notwith- 
standing that they are fair game for Jack 
Frost, who looks upon the broad delicate 
foliage as his special prey. But they are 
essentially a greenhouse plant to be grown 
in their best garb of glory. Their glory has 
now departed for the season. After bloom. 
ing they should be removed from the house. 
The old flower stems should be cut down, 
except those that are required for seeds, and 
the pots placed outside upon a bed of ashes 
Cineraria Hybrida Grandiflora. 
ing forlorn with uninviting and inelegant 
faded drapings and curtains could be made 
attractive and cheerful with a pot of lovely 
Cinerarias, and kept so many weeks. Even 
the foliage is rich and beautiful long before 
the flowers come to complete the adornment. 
Not only could this be so in the cottage win- 
. 
+ 
dow, but the stately drawing-room could be 
smade brilliant in live colouring by theaddition 
‘of a plant or two of this most lovely flower. 
Y True it is generally regarded as a florist’s 
flower, but florists have by no means the 
monopoly, as some of the most mag- 
nificent displays of it are seen outside 
the florist's domain. We have seen them in 
the open beds, not by being transplanted 
from the pots when just coming into bloom, 
in an open situation. “Water them in mode- 
ration, and as soon‘as the offsets have made 
a leaf or two cut them off without injuring 
the roots, “Put them into small pots in a 
cold frame, shading them from the light for 
two-or three weeks, after another week with 
sunshine they will be rooted ready for larger 
pots. Repot them into their flowering pot 
after they have become well established, 
care being taken to see that they do not be- 
come potbound. In a rich compost with 
plenty of water they will be found to be 
good growers with very little trouble. In- 
sects are rather partial to them, as they are 
to most other good things, but a little to- 
bacco fumigation will help them against 
their natural enemies. 
One of the hitherto uulooked-to factors 
in the problems pertaining to village im- 
provement and out-door home surroundings 
is that of the children, but a great deal of 
attention is at last being given to the ques- 
tion in Chicago. Wherever the improve- 
ment of outdoor conditions about homes . 
of the masses has been undertaken’ on a 
large scale, the boys and girls have been 
requisitioned and have brought about mar- 
vellous results, not only to themselves, but 
to the work they were called upon to do. 
And it will always be found to be a natural 
fact, that once get the children, of eligible 
age, interested in garden outdoor improve- 
ment work, and the love of nature inherent 
to them and. the persistent effort they will 
make to succeed under encouraging con- 
ditions, will be a stimulant to the children 
of older growth who need a constant spur to 
keep ambition alive. The adaptability and 
enthusiasm of children to work out such de- 
tails of improvement as come within 
their intelligence and strength should be 
recognized far more fully than it is. In 
the manifold directions in which. village im- 
provement societies find duties awaiting 
them, much of the details could well be rele- 
gated to organized child effort, and such 
encouragements could be readily arranged as 
would .by creating healthy emulation, ensure 
the best of service. Little hands and. 
bright eyes have through all ages been af- 
forded affectionate recognition for usefulness 
and brightness, and we find as the world 
grows older duties to perform which are real 
pleasures after all, and duties in a great part 
_of the education and character training of the 
child may be incorporated, and in which the 
little hands and bright eyes may also be 
made of real usefulness to the community at 
Jarge.—Vark and Cemetery. 
A Pretty Table Decoration 
———— (= 
yp Scotch lady sends us the following :—“I 
was called in the other evening to look 
at a table which was just being arranged for 
dinner, and the effect appealed so much to 
my artistic taste (or what little there is left 
of that virtue, in these prosaic, hard working 
days) that I resolved to tell you all about it. 
Down the centre was a strip of white satin, 
rich and thick, on which was embroidered 
bars of gold, and daffodils so exquisitely 
worked here and there that they had the 
appearance of being lightly thrown into their 
laces. In the centre stood a bowl of 
maidenhair fern, which I learnt was _pre- 
served—although I could not tell that it had 
not been freshly gathered—and at each 
corner there was placed a slender vase con- 
taining two or three blossoms of the same 
stately yellow flower and feathery fern. 
Here and there fairy lights were glimmering 
in exquisitely haminered iron stands, and 
each serviette was folded square, with.a 
strap of narrow yellow satin ribbon across 
one corner and tied in a tiny but loose 
bow,”. 
