THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



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the roots were kept slightly damped, filled 

 up to the rims of the pots with sand, and 

 when the Waltonian case was at work, a few 

 were taken, as room could be spared for them. 

 The plants were potted into thumbs, though 

 with heads as big as cauliflowers, and stood 

 round the sides of the case, to get a little of 

 the warmth, the air temperature being about 

 60 degs., from the stove in the study. 

 When they had made a little progress, and 

 showed signs of having got to work at the 

 root, they were put into the cool end of the 

 case ; then took places at the warm end with 

 cuttings that required air, and were then cut 

 over-close, and every joint put round the 

 insides of sixty-pots, in very sandy loam, and 

 not more than five per cent, of them failed 

 in striking. From this they went to pits 

 and frames, had shifts as they needed, but 

 were never indulged with much root-room, 

 and, from the first of June, to this moment, 

 they have been blooming in beds and bor- 

 ders, as well as any greenhouse stock, though 

 so hard pushed, and having so little atten- 

 tion. 



Last year, everybody was astonished at 

 the protracted growth and bloom of tender 

 plants of all kinds. The geraniums put the 

 chrysanthemums a little out of joint in 

 November, and we were all interested in the 

 records of the season, which told of rasp- 

 berries and strawberries gathered on Christ- 

 mas-day, spring flowers blooming prema- 

 turely, and hard-wooded plants growing 

 when they ought to have been at rest. In 

 the last week of October, I had, on a- rustic 

 bench, a number of very large plants of 

 Queen, Commander, Reidii, &c., in eight and 

 ten-inch pots — old friends that have acquired 

 a patriarchal dignity in the family, and that, 

 I trust, will not soon disappear from our 

 stock of old favourites. In that week we 

 had some smart gales of wind, and, one morn- 

 ing, I found geraniums, fuchsias, and all sorts 

 of things scattered about, and snapped terri- 

 bly. Being in a hurry, and intending soon 

 to cut down the plants for striking, I thrust 

 a number of large branches of the Queens 

 into the adjoining border, to keep them 

 moist, till I should have time to pot them. 

 There they remained, till the second week 

 in December, when, in looking about, a truss 

 of flowers just opening on one of them 

 caught my eye, and I soon discovered, that 

 all but two, out of two dozen, had struck, 

 and were growing vigorously. They were 

 at once potted, went in doors with the rest, 

 and did well till February, when six of them 

 died off by damp at the collar, and the re- 

 mainder are now good plants, and full of 

 trusses, in the garden. 



The old plants were, that same week, cut 

 down, and staged in the top room for the 



winter. The cuttings were sorted over, and 

 all the soft green shoots thrown away as 

 useless, but the ripe branches of six, eight, 

 and ten inches in length, were potted firmly 

 round the sides of five-inch pots, as close as 

 they could be packed, and in this way, about 

 six dozen of them stood till March, when 

 they were gently started, then potted 

 separately, then young cuttings taken from 

 them for blooming late in the summer, and 

 those last cuttings are now flourishing plants, 

 with fine heads, and lots of bloom. 



Among the old geraniums, which had 

 not a degree of fire heat, and actually had 

 to endure two or three degrees of frost in 

 the full light, though of course kept quite 

 dry in the pots, those that suffered least 

 of all, were Kingsbury Pet, Reidii, and 

 that miffy thing, Tom Thumb's Bride. 

 The last will strike at any season, will 

 bear to be soaked with water in cold wea- 

 ther, and though never a great beauty, 

 and with little luxuriance in its habit, 

 bears harsh treatment as well as any. 

 Kingsbury Pet is also very hearty, and as 

 it is one of the most beautiful of the pink 

 horseshoes ; people who are without green- 

 houses, should not fear to grow it, and 

 strike as many cuttings as they can take 

 without spoiling the beauty of their 

 plants. Reidii did so well, that some pots 

 full of thick stumpy cuttings were ac- 

 tually in bloom iu April, without having 

 been shifted, and when they were turned 

 out early in May, the sandy stuff they 

 were struck in, was one mass of roots. 

 Plants kept in this way, however, are very 

 " l e ggy>" an d a s ugly as standard roses — 

 a stick and a mop — and the way to set 

 them right, is to plant them on their 

 sides, with the stems on the ground, to be 

 held close down by a strip of bass passed 

 round, and then thrust firmly into the 

 soil. They then throw up shoots from 

 the roots, and from every joint along the 

 stem, and as their hardiness enables you 

 to put them out three weeks sooner than 

 you could dare to turn out plants from a 

 greenhouse, they have more time to start, 

 and, before July, are pictures of health 

 and beauty. The sorts that fared the 

 worst were, the Queens, Commanders, and 

 Mrs. Maylin. Most of these died down to 

 the ripe forks of the main stems, and when 

 they had well broken, were cut close 

 over to the new shoots. Flower of the 

 Day kept growing till March, and then 

 went off at .the collar, and when turned 

 out of the pots, were found to have 

 completely rotted at the roots. Uniques 

 did very queerly, the young plants perished 

 entirely, and the old ones had to be cut 



