364 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



quality of the cuttings to be taken into consideration in proceeding 

 with their propagation, for unless the weather changes to a great ex- 

 tent these will be of the most watery nature, and difficult to manage 

 under ordinary treatment. 1 would advise a particularly light open 

 soil to be used in the boxes — at least a layer on top of such — and the 

 cutting-boxes placed under the protection of lights, and shaded at first 

 from severe sun. A week of such treatment ought to get the cuttings 

 into a safe condition, when, if the weather be fine, shading and lights 

 may be dispensed with, and the cuttings struck in the open. Should 

 wet weather continue and signs of damping at the neck be noticed, 

 the whole batch ought to be placed in a vinery or other structure 

 where they can be safe and are certain to strike. I have been thus 

 particular in advising the above treatment, because a mistake so late in 

 the season must result in a great deficiency in next year's supply. In 

 the case of Verbenas, Iresines, and plants of a like nature, particularly 

 iu the north, it will be advisable to use a little heat, just a very little 

 though, to get them safely rooted. Directly roots are produced, cold 

 treatment must be given them to keep the plants in a dwarf and 

 sturdy condition for passing the dangerous winter months. Those 

 who strike them in July will have less bother than those of us who 

 propagate later. Lobelias I find most certain, kept growing in pots 

 through the summer ; and as these are very useful for conservatory 

 decoration in the summer and autumn months, and as a large number 

 of cuttings is produced from one plant, a small number of pots is 

 sufficient of these. Violas, Pansies, Pentstemons, and plants of a hke 

 nature which are kept over the winter in cold frames, do not require 

 propagating till September. Carnations and Picotees layered in July 

 should be potted up before many roots are made, and the plants in- 

 duced to fill the pots with roots before winter sets in. Calling for 

 great attention, from now onwards, is the keeping of beds and lawns 

 in a state of great cleanliness. No ribbon-border looks well un- 

 less the different lines are kept perfectly distinct one from the other ; 

 but when these are kept well defined, no mode of summer planting is 

 more attractive than this. The lines ought to be picked over about 

 once every ten days ; plants like Perilla to be regularly pinched in, 

 aud Cerastium tomentosum and Koniga variegata to be clipped so as 

 to be level with the grass at the edges. Where Festuca glauca 

 and the tall-growing form of Dactylis glomerata variegata grow too 

 tall for edgings, it will be necessary to go over the lines of these 

 and pull the tallest of the blades entirely out ; both are capital bed- 

 ders. Lines of Violas, and those in beds either by themselves or 

 mixed with other plants, will now require to have all the withered 

 blooms and seed-capsules picked off, when they will flower persist- 



