THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



31 



a sportive growth become permanent. 

 These may always be propagated by 

 removing some of the young growth 

 in Mayor June, selecting those which 

 have some proportion ofgreeninthe 

 leaves, and placing the cuttings under 

 beil glasses in any sandy or peaty soil. 

 Many beautiful varieties might be 

 added to our collections, if local 

 sports were secured and distributed, 

 which now exists only in single speci- 

 mens, and many of those we possess 

 might be improved by watching for 

 peculiar growths, and rendering these 

 permanent by propagation. The 

 most remarkable specimen I ever had 

 was a fine plant of U. helix arborea 

 variegata I planted out on a mound 

 in a mixture of poor peat and broken 

 chalk. It formed a fine round head, 

 and every year produced shoots more 

 and more white, until at last there 

 was scarcely any green tint percep- 

 tible in any part of the plant. I 

 tried to root these white shoots — who 

 has not tried the same thing with 

 variegated plants? — and of course 

 "without success ; they would not root 

 either as cuttings or layers, and, at 

 last, the plant becoming completely 

 etiolated, perished in the severe win- 

 ter of 1860, and so I lost the most re- 

 markable of all the fancy ivies I ever 

 possessed. 



There is another method of 

 causing cuttings of ivy to root quickly ; 

 it is founded upon the peculiar habit 

 of the plant in attaching itself to 

 rough surfaces, such as Trails, the 



bark of trees, etc. If the growth of 

 a new shoot be observed in spring, it 

 will be seen that on the side next the 

 wall it throws out a number of small, 

 fleshy, tender claws. These are in 

 every respect identical with roots, 

 aud only fail to become roots through 

 lack of moisture in the substance to 

 which they are first applied. Take off 

 a young shoot when about four inches 

 long, remove one or two of the lowest 

 leaves, and plant it so that the deli- 

 cate white rootlets at the base are un- 

 injured, and it will scarcely receive a 

 check, for those rootlets will push 

 into the soil and form a plant at once 

 without the otherwise needful preli- 

 minary of forming a callus. This ia 

 a quick method of propagating ivy, 

 but it must be done in April and May, 

 and the shoots must be taken from a 

 wall or other place to which ivy is 

 attached. 



Lastly, we may always resort to 

 the very simple, speedy, and certain 

 method of layering. To accomplish 

 this with extra speed, peg out the 

 shoots on a bed of cocoa-nut dust. 

 The free-growing kinds will throw out 

 roots abundantly whenever they touch 

 a damp surface ; so there is really no 

 limit to the possibilities of increase by 

 this method ; and even such delicate 

 kinds as H. helix marginata CMisii, 

 and others that are usually grafted, 

 may be layered on cocoa-nut waste or 

 saudy peat with the greatest cer- 

 tainty. 



THE GARDEN GUIDE FOR FEBRUARY. 



Kitchen Garden. — Crops to be cleared 

 off as fast as possible, and the plots ridged 

 up to be well aired before being appro- 

 priated to summer crops. Breadths of 

 cabbage, kail, etc., may be taken up and 

 planted close in out-of-the-way places 

 where they will sprout as freely as if not 

 lifted. Sow main crops of peas and beans, 

 earth up any that are not out of the ground, 

 and if any fear of vermin sprinkle with 

 wood aslies. Messrs. Hooper, of Covent 

 Garden, are offering wire protectors to 

 cover drills of peas to protect them from 

 the birds. We believe the common slug 

 has more to answer for as to the destruc- 

 tion of early rows of peas than any other 



depredator. Sow a little of every kind 

 of kitchen crop, and a few main sowings 

 of beans and peas. Early crops of ra- 

 dishes and lettuces may be got on slopes, 

 with the help of a few reed or straw 

 hurdles, to give shelter from east winds. 

 Put out a good breadth of young lettuce 

 on a gentle hotbed for planting out a few 

 weeks hence. Whatever arrears of winter 

 work remain must now be cleared up, or 

 the consequences will be serious. Finish 

 all pruning, nailing, forking of borders, 

 and planting of trees and bushes. Make 

 a thorough clearance of the vegetable 

 quiirters. 



Cauliflowers to be potted in pairs into 



