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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



to collect tlie moisture, and hold it in con- 

 tact with the most growing part of the 

 plant ; for you will find that, as the branch 

 assumes its full development, these bracts 

 bein no longer necessary, wither and fall 

 off. These bracts, in the cutting, perform 

 their functions as well as in the plant, 

 but unfortunately in the cutting they 

 become organs of dcstructiveness ; for, 

 holding the moisture around the cutting, 

 they quickly cause it to rot; but remove 

 these bracts, and likewise the most ver- 

 tical leaf, and then you will see that it is 

 impossible for moisture to remain upon 

 the cutting sufficiently long lor it to do 

 anv harm ; therefore, in preparing your 

 cuttings, remove these bracts, and at the 

 same time you remove the receptacles of 

 stagnant moisture. V\ ith the cuttings so 

 prepared, you may syringe daily without 

 any tear of doing injury; and, indeed, of 

 the most deli< ate fancy pelargoniums thus 

 prepared I rarely lose a cutting. With 

 reference to cutting to a joint, that is not 

 of the slightest consequence. I like strong 

 cuttings when I can get them, but if a 

 quantity of a scarce kind is required, a 

 leaf with the accompanying bud, and the 

 internode below it, is sufficient for my 

 purpose. Thus, in cases of necessity, every 

 leaf with the bud at its base will make a 

 plant. I have recommended that with 

 the bracts the most vertical leaf should be 

 taken off. This only applies to cuttings 

 of the most terminal part of the branch ; 

 and I think, in addition to removing the 

 receptacle for stagnant moisture, it also 

 for a time, by arresting further growih, 

 prevents the sap being used in a wrong 

 direction. 



In the autumn of last year, a friend 

 was so kind as to send me, after the Oc- 

 tober frost, some old plants of Golden Chain 

 geranium. When received, they pre- 

 sented a rather forlorn appearance ; but 

 the decayed portions were removed, and 

 the plants were potted in small pots, and 

 plunged m a gentle bottom-heat, the soil 

 used being ordinary geranium soil, with 

 an extra quantity of sand to induce root 

 action. As the roots began to protrude 

 through the soil, the branches also gave 

 evidence of growth, and, with the assist- 

 ance of a little weak manure- water, and 

 the temperature of a cool cucumber-bouse, 



I had by February a goodly display of 

 cuttings. On the 17th of that month the 

 plants were cut down, and when prepared, 

 it was found that we had 619 cuttings. 

 In preparing them, the leaf-bracts and 

 leaders were carefully removed, and each 

 cutting was surrounded with light, sandy 

 soil, and tied up in moss as a separate 

 parcel, taking care to keep the leaves as 

 clear of the moss as possible. All being 

 in readiness, the parcels were plunged in 

 tan over a hot-water tank, the bottom- 

 heat being kept rather in excess of that of 

 the atmosphere of the house. The 600 

 cuttings i ccupied rather le~s than two 

 square yards of surface, and on the 17th 

 March we had the satisfaction of taking 

 out upwards of 600 well-rooted plants. 

 So much for the difficulty of increasing 

 Golden Chain. 



When the plants were taken from the 

 tan or cutting-bed, they were planted 

 thinly in shallow boxes, in a comport 

 consisting of loam liberally intermixed with 

 old mushroom-dung and cow-dung. In 

 this, being kept in heat, they grew vigo- 

 rously, and when hardened off and planted 

 out, they were the best plants of the kind 

 I ever saw. In planting, each plant was 

 surrounded with a double handful of the 

 compost previously mentioned, and at the 

 present time many of the plants are 18 

 inches through, and form at the present 

 time two remarkably fine rows of this 

 elegant ribbon plant. Thus, I think it is 

 quite clear, the best way to manage Golden 

 Cbain is to pot it in its entirety when 

 taken from the flower garden in the au- 

 tumn, to grow it in heat through the 

 winter, and to strike the cuttings in moss 

 in the following spring. Treated in this 

 way, Golden Chain will quickly become 

 &s common as Tom Thumb; but nurse it 

 with p?at and sand, and it will remain, 

 what it always has been, a sickly and deli- 

 cate thing. 



One remark more, and for the present 

 I have done. When plants are difficult to 

 root, it is always essential to preserve the 

 roots after they are formed. This, in pot- 

 ting off in the ordinary manner is a difficult 

 matter, but strike your cuttings in moss, 

 and these difficulties vanish. 



A. P. H., in Gardener's Chronicle. 



