FEBRUARY 



IRISH GARDENING. 



19 



Fuchsia Culture 



B}' K. McLeod Beaton, Carrigoran, Newmarket-on- 

 Fergus, Co. Clare. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS.— The 

 best time for this is in February and 

 March. The plants require a little heat 

 to stimulate them into growth. The best kind 

 of cuttings are the young shoots taken off close 

 to the old wood as soon as they are two inches 

 long. Fill the cutting pots with a compost of 

 loam and leaf-mould in equal parts to within an 

 inch of the top ; fill the 

 remaining space with sharp 

 silver sand, make it firm, 

 then put in the cuttings 

 after trimming off the lower 

 leaves ; give a gentle 

 watering with a fine rose, 

 and place them in the pro- 

 pagating frame; if not 

 room for them in the frame 

 place hand-glasses over 

 them. The cuttings will 

 soon strike root, and 

 should then be potted oft" 

 singly into small pots ; 

 shade them from the sun 

 for a time, and repot them 

 then into pots two sizes 

 larger. Pot the old plants 

 early in the spring ; strong 

 yellow loam, one-half 

 leaf-mould, and well de- 

 cayed old hot-bed manure, 

 one quarter each, all 

 thoroughly mixed, will 



form a very suitable compost. It is good 

 practice to have the soil mixed up two 

 or three days before potting. After the 

 greater part of the old soil is shaken off", 

 reduce the roots, and trim in the branches, 

 so as to get the plants into a pyramidal form ; 

 pot them firm, and place them in a heat of 55 

 degrees. "Water moderately, and syringe over- 

 head frequently to encourage growth. When 

 the plants are growing freely, weak liquid 

 manure may be applied to advantage. From 

 a 5-inch to an 8-inch pot should make a good 

 shift for young plants. The tops should be 

 nipped off to force out the branches, the object 

 ;ill the time being the pyramidal form. One o( 



the top shoots should be cut out as soon as the 

 lower shoots have grown a few inches ; the 

 other top shoot should be tied to a cane, to be 

 again stopped when it has grown about a foot ; 

 proceed in this way till the desired height is 

 attained. If the side-shoots are deficient in 

 number, stop them also, to cause the right 

 number of side shoots to be produced. 



As soon as the flowering season is over set 

 them out of doors in the open on a bed of 

 ashes — no ground worms will get into the pots 

 if placed on ashes. "When the frost sets in. 



:dge 18 FEET HIGH Skirtini; a Hi 

 West of Ireland 



take the plants under cover, place them under 

 the greenhouse stage, or even in a shed where 

 frost cannot reach them ; they will not require 

 any more water till their potting season comes 

 round again. 



Open Border Varieties. — Those having the 

 habit of the old coccinea, gracilis, globosa, &c., 

 are all well fitted for flower garden purposes, 

 requiring little or no attention, but cutting 

 them to within a foot of the ground after the 

 first frost. The stools should be covered with 

 ashes or leaf-mould, or any other litter, to 

 exclude trost. Remove the covering in April. 

 If it is desirable to keep such kinds as coccinea, 

 &c., as dwarf as possible the plants should be 



