Aug. 9.—We used to consider the Zinnia a "dead" flower, but the species has been so much improved and so many attractive new varieties are now on the market that "youth-and-old-age" as the plant is sometimes called, has become a great favourite for Summer bedding. We see gorgeous specimens in many gardens, some plants bearing flowers which could easily be mistaken for dahlias. We have also seen some very mediocre flowers: it is presumed that these were grown from seed collected locally. There is no harm in collecting one's own seed for a year or two, but new blood should be brought into the garden occasionally if we are to compete with our next-door neighbour and we all love to see that jealous look in our neighbours eye when he calls to borrow his own lawn-mower or roller or when he peeps over the fence to explain to us so dramatically how his thermos flask burst owing to his house-boy placing too many ice cubes inside. We used to like listening to those stories about fish and we remember how astonished we were to learn of the size of the one which a narrator just missed in a local pond. Those stories are yarns of the past: we have a new interest now and we are sure that one Zinnia flower in our garden -is much larger than the one Mrs. Next-Door says she cut last week. "Tommy" tells us that the flowers get larger as the plant grows older, so, if he is correct, we are going to have some beauties shortly. Zinnias are native to Mexico and Peru, the plant being named after Johann Zinn, a German professor of botany. They are very easy to grow, but they like good treatment and plenty of light: they will grow in shady. places, but they are not too satisfactory Ch.$ £Sterling
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