Jal7 11, 1667. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDBNEB, 



1!> 



PROPAGATION AND CULTURE OF THE 

 nOLI,YIIOCK. 



'DICIOUSI,Y pliiccd and 

 used in moderation, tliere 

 are few of our commoner 

 plants capable of producinp; 

 more cfleetive features in 

 irrefTular flower cjardens and 

 ornamental grounds tl an the Ilollj'hock, and a few words 

 on its propagation and freneral manaf;ement may not be 

 unacceptable, more especially to those of your readers who 

 have notbith<u-to considered it one of tlieir special favourites. 

 The modes of propagation resorted to for I'aising or in- 

 creasing a stock of plants are various, each with something 

 to recommend it, according to the circumstances under 

 which it is adopted. 



Serd. — Sowing ought seldom to be resorted to by 

 growers of ^mall collections, unless -ivith the ^-iew of raising 

 improved varieties. As a means of acquiring a stock for 

 decorative purposes it is very precarious, as a great many 

 of the seedlings \vill in most cases turn out worthless, even 

 though the seed may have been saved from the best of 

 flowers. One way of proceeding is to sow in pans or boxes 

 eaidy in March, placing them in a mild heat of .about (i()°, 

 and, when the first pair of rough leaves are beginning to 

 develope, remove them into a cold pit or frame, or if these 

 are not available, to some shelf near the glass in the green- 

 house or any other cool place. If thickly sown the plants 

 mil soon begin to be crowded, when they must be thinned. 

 and prickedotr into other boxes about :i inches apart. 

 In these they may remain so long as they can without 

 di-awing, but if this is likely they must, if the weather 

 and the state of the soil admit, be lemoved to some snug 

 not over-exposed border in the kitchen garden, previously 

 prepared for them by being deeply dug and well manured 

 witli very rotten dung of any sort. Planted in this at lA foot 

 apart they will flower before the end of the season, when 

 their merits can be judged of, and those varieties worth 

 keeping sliould be cut down, and planted immediately in 

 their permanent situations. 



Another and much easier method is to sow in the first 

 week of .Funi^ on any piece of rich gi'ound, and in the end 

 of September to transplant into a two-feet border at the 

 bottom of a south wall, where it is easy to afford thera a little 

 protection in hard weather, moving them again in spring 

 to their flowering ipurrters when they have fahdy begun 

 to gi'ow. IJy this plan, however, a greater danger is in- 

 curred of having some prominent position occupied through- 

 out the following autumn by specimens such as delighted 

 our gi-eatgrandfathers ; for although those who have been 

 in the habit of raising seedlings for a long period can pick 

 out a large proportion of the single ones by the appearance 



1»0 82a— Vol, Xni., N»w SEarat. 



of the leaf, yet none of them can be depended upon as 

 re.illy good flowers. 



Bv CiTTiNcs IN Sprino. — As soon as they can bo had, 

 take some of those shoots which are thrown up from old 

 plants at that season, trim ofl" the lowest leaf, leaving the 

 rest intact. Prepare the requisite number of five-inch pots 

 by driiining them well in the usual manner, and tilling np 

 to within half an inch of the brim with soil composed of 

 equal jiarts of loam and leaf mould, with a little san d added ; 

 then, with a round blunt dibber considerably thicker than 

 the cuttings, punch Ave or six holes round the sides of the 

 pot ; drop a little silver sand into each, and when the cut- 

 tings are inserted fill up the remaining interstices also 

 with sand, and press the whole down rather firmly. Place 

 in a mild bottom heat of from 0.5° to 00°, shading a little 

 in bright weather, to prevent the necessity of watering, 

 which must be done as seldom as possible until the cnt- 

 tings are fairly struck, which will be in about five weeks, 

 lieing very liable to damp off. any steam or stagnant air ia 

 the frame must be carefully guarded against. 



B V E\n;s. — ^Vhen side-shoots make their appearance fhey 

 are generally pinched ofl', but wlien eyes for propagation 

 are wanted a few of the earliest shou]d be spared. When 

 these begin to become bai-d and well ripened, let them 

 bo removed, and cut into pieces, each posses.sing an eye. a 

 healthy leaf, and about 2 inches of the stem. Cut across 

 immediately below the ,joiiit as for a cutting, and again 

 about IV inch above it ; msert in shallow pans, place in a 

 cold frame, and keep ratlier close. Remove the old leaves 

 as they begin to decay, and in a few weeks two or three 

 young ones will appear, when the plants may be potted off 

 into small pots. Shift again when required, and never on 

 any acco\int allow them to get potbound. At this and any 

 stibscqueut shift they may be indulged in a rather rich 

 compost, consisting of two parts loam and one part very 

 rotten cowdung, with a few handfuls of bone-meal added, 

 and as much sand as will keep the whole open. 



Bv Gr.^itixg. — Although not so much practised as any 

 of the preceding, this is at once a sure and expeditious 

 mode of increasing any favourite sort. Old plants that 

 have been wintered in pots supply the best stocks for this 

 purpose. Examine them about the beginning of February, 

 and if the old roots have begun to emit small white root- 

 lets, they are then in a fit state to be operated upon. Re- 

 move some of the roots with as many of these fibres attached 

 as possible. Wbip-gi-aft in the ordinary way, and when 

 tied rub over witli soft clay, and pot into small pots, keep- 

 ing the giaft an inch below the soil, which should be well 

 pressed round the neck of the scion. Place in a gentle 

 lieat, shade, and keep close, and in a fortnight most of the 

 grafts will have taken. 



]5y Division. — When done flowering, or when the spikes 

 begin to be unsightly, some of the larger plants may be 

 lifted, and di\ided into as many parts as there are healthy 

 shoots, securing as many roots to each as possible : plant 

 these divisions in any rather dry sandy soil nntU the spring, 

 when fhey will be found very serv'iceable for planting at 

 the bade of herbaceous or mixed shrubbery borders. 



CuLTi-Ri:. — Wlien by any of these or other means a stock 

 No. 980.-VOL. XXXVni., Old SEBias. 



