190 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



crocks, then the remaining space with light sandy soil, such as a mixture of loam, 

 leaf-mould, and sand, to within an inch of the rim, which must be partly filled with 

 silver sand. As before observed, take the tops of the young growths, and cut them 

 in about three-inch lengths ; they should have properly three joints, and have the 

 bottom pair of leaves removed and be cut clean under the bottom one. These 

 cuttings must be dibbled over the surface of the soil an inch apart, and be pressed 

 firmly in their places. When the whole of the cuttings are inserted, water them 

 with a fine rose, and place the pots in a rather close and shaded part of the green- 

 house. No bottom-heat or propagating beds are necessary now. The main object 

 is to keep the foliage fresh. A shade, frequent sprinkling, and a rather close 

 atmosphere will suffice for this. Directly the cuttings are rooted, pot off into three- 

 inch pots, and use a compost prepared as near as possible in this way- — loam from 

 the top spit of an old pasture two parts, and decayed manure and leaf-mould in 

 equal quantities, to form the third part, with a liberal admixture of sharp sand ; 

 good river sand will answer admirably. The young plants will require to be kept 

 close for a few days to get established. When the roots are forming nicely round 

 the sides of the pot, you must determine what you intend doing with them ; that is, 

 whether you intend gi'owing them planted out or in pots. We should advise you 

 to grow a few both ways, as you are so fond of cutting the sprigs fur vases and 

 bouquets, and then you have no necessity to cut your'pot plants about. The subject 

 of out-door culture can be dismissed in a very few words. Choose an open mode- 

 rately rich border, and plant tliem out in exactly the same way as a common 

 scarlet geranium. The plants make fiuer and healthier growths if the border is 

 ordinarily moist, and not overshadowed with trees. The after treatment of the pot 

 plants is so excessively simple, that we often wonder that we do not see better 

 grown specimens than those which we ordinarily meet with. You have nothing to 

 ' do beyond stopping the main shoot when it gets four or five inches from the pot, 

 and then stopping the side shoots in the same manner, to make the plant a good 

 shape. Pyramids eighteen inches high have a charming effect, and make fine 

 window plants. 



CiN«RABiAS DONE Flowerixg. — Miss JR. — The plants which you are desirous of 

 preserving should have the flower-stalks removed at once, and the plants turned 

 out of the pots and planted in a border of light rich soil, where they Avill be par- 

 tially shaded from the sun ; for this purpose no place is better than a border under 

 a north wall. We give the border, when we turn our plants out, a dressing of six 

 inches of either rotten dung or leaf-mould, or equal proportions of the two, whichever 

 we happen to be able to spare, and a couple of inches of river sand ; or failing 

 that, an equal proportion of road scrapings. This compost is mixed with the ordi- 

 nary soil about a foot deep. The balls of soil are slightly loosened and the crocks 

 taken away, and the plants are planted eighteen inches apart, and the bed kept free 

 from weeds. Any one who has not seen plants treated this way would scarcely believe 

 the fine offsets which are produced by the end of August. It is, without doubt, a 

 much better way than keeping the old plants in pots all the summer, for you get 

 offsets twice the size and with but little trouble. All amateurs ought to adopt it, for 

 it saves them much time and labour, and there is no fear of the plants suffering for 

 want of water through the hot months. The plants should be carefully lifted early 

 in September, the offsets taken off and potted in five-inch pots, and placed in a 

 cold frame, upon a moist bottom of coal ashes, where they will take root in a sur- 

 prisingly short space of time. Offsets have several advantages over seedlings, for 

 they are dwarfer in habit and flower more abundantly, and the cultivator knows 

 exactly what he is growing, which is not the case with seedlings, for with the most 

 carefully selected seed a large quantity of flowers will be coarse and rough, though 

 passable as regards colour. 



MiLDKW IX OKcnARD HousE. — Igiioramus. — The leaves sent are covered with 

 mildew. We are unable to state the exact cause of its presence, for a damp stag- 

 nant atmosphere, too dry, or too wet at the roots will produce it. We have often 

 seen it upon trees grown in houses erected upon the orchard house plan, with 

 large squares of glass, after cold easterly winds in March and April, when the trees 

 have been started early enough to get the foliage full out by that time. Your 

 remedy is to dust every particle of foliage and fruit with flowers of sulphur, after 

 the trees have been sprinkled with water to help it to adhere. The heating appa- 

 ratus, if your house is heated, should be painted with sulphur made to the consistency 



