218 ' THE GARDENER. [May 



ing and beautiful objects. Some of the finer kinds also make grand 

 plants for exhibition purpot^es. The Acacia is propagated by cuttings 

 and from seed. If by cuttings, they j^hould be taken off at a joint, 

 and put in a properly drained pot or pan, filled up with soil, leaving 

 about two inches of pure silver sand on the top in which to insert the 

 cuttings ; water them through a fine rose, cover with a bell-glass, and 

 plunge the pot up to the rim in a moderate hotbed. After they 

 are fairly rooted, they should be potted off singly, in small pots, and 

 replunged for a time in the hotbed or propagating -pit until they 

 have again started into active growth. As soon as the pots are filled 

 with roots, they may be shifted into larger pots. It is not desirable 

 in the case of any hard-wooded plants to give large shifts, as the roots 

 always find their way to the sides of the pot, and therefore the roots 

 may get matted there, and the centre of the ball just loose soil, by 

 which the water escapes too readily, and the soil also holds too much 

 water in suspension, and therefore soon gets soured. By giving small 

 shifts, and more frequently, the whole ball wall be full of roots, and 

 they will be ready to absorb the water when it is given to them. The 

 points of the shoots should be pinched out when they are young, so as 

 to secure a bushy habit. They should be kept moderately close and 

 warm during the first season, gradually hardening them off as autumn 

 approaches, so that they may be the better able to stand the winter. 

 In spring, when fresh growth commences, they may get another shift, 

 say into 6-inch pots, using the soil as roughly as may be convenient. 

 They may be kept close for a short time until they begin to root afresh, 

 when a more liberal allowance of air may be given them. About the 

 middle of July they may be set out of doors in a well-sheltered, sunny 

 l»lace, and the pots plunged in a good deep bed of ashes, both to pre- 

 vent the entrance of worms through the drainage -holes and also 

 excessive evaporation. They may be allowed to stand here until the 

 autumn, but must be attended to in the way of watering, &c. When 

 the pots are full of rootKS they require a liberal supply. They must 

 be housed again about the middle or end of October. If it be 

 desired to raise plants from seed, it should be sow^i in February or 

 ]\Iarch, the pot or pan plunged in a mild bottom-heat, and the seed- 

 lings pricked off singly into small pots as soon as they have made two 

 pairs of leaves. The after-treatment should be the same as described 

 above for plants raised from cuttings. 



It is unnecessary to give a list of varieties, as this can easily be 

 obtained from any catalogue. We may, however, just give the names 

 of a dozen varieties which will give pretty general satisfaction — viz., 

 A. armata, A. dealbata, A. Drummondii, A. grandis, A. hispidissima, 

 A. linearis, A. longifolia, A. pubescens, A. Riceana, A. verticillata, A. 

 spectabilis, and A. vestita. J. G., W. 



