Murch 4, 1889. 1 



JOUllNAL OF UOKTICULTUBB AND OOTl'AGE QAKDKNJ2K. 



105 



to the Eiilea and ends. Half a dozen small pots 8ot in the 

 drawer keep the top from bulfiing, and on that I have sot two 

 hand-ligUta, each 18 inches square, and I am flanRuinu of sue- 

 cesB." Wo liUe people to trv tUtiv own plans, becanso *ai-y are 

 more likely to bring tlieir enthusiiism to liear upon them, so 

 as to make them answer. If some readers are similaily eilu- 

 ated we would say. Imitate our correspondent, and uho your 

 hand-lights. To those who have not hand-lights we would « ith 

 equal frankness say. Ho not think of buying them ; nud in the 

 first place, supposing that the heating part and the mere frame- 

 covering are to be in separate pieces, to lift off and on, the 

 slightest reference to our advertising columns will show that 

 the price of a hand-light would procure several frames of wood 

 with one large square of glass as a covering. Then, again, 

 much more heat will be required for a hand-light, as it will he 

 losing heat frtely all round; and though for some purposes 

 there is the advantage of more li;;ht, that is not a very great 

 commendation when propagation by cuttings is considered, and 

 is of no great conscquenceat first in the case of small seedlings. 

 The wooden frame keeps in the heat trauemitted by the ho' 

 water. In striking cuttings, damp and drip are also to ho 

 guarded against. Of late we have not done much witli uilEcult 

 kinds of propagation, but when we did we found the iuoon- 

 venience of the flat-headed bell-glasses, useful though they 

 were. The colder air outside caused the moisture to condense 

 on the glass inside, and that, if left alone, would have dropped 

 on the tiny cuttings. To prevent this the propagator had fre- 

 quently to dry tho inside of his bell-glasses by means of a 

 cloth. To save that labour, or prevent failure from itj neglect, 

 we had glasses made, such as are now often met with, of a 

 conical shape, terminating in a point in the knob or liaudle. 

 Under these glasses the condensed moisture, instead of drop- 

 ping, trickled down the sides of the glass and went iuto the 

 sand or soil. Now this would partly take place from the some- 

 what conical moveable top of a common hand-light, but not 

 thoroughly, as every bar and junction would ho apt to retain 

 the condensed vapour in the shape of dew drops inside. If 

 these bars were at all rusty, the drops falling on the cuttings 

 would be more unpleasant. Now, ou the inside surf.ico of our 

 one large square of glass there would often be condensed 

 moisture, just as there would be inside a hand-light ; hut when- 

 ever it appeared on the square of glass we would save all 

 trouble in attempting to dry it by simply reversing it, and 

 placing the dry side next the cut.tiugs. In all such cases in 

 frames out of doors, or esses in-doors, this condensation of 

 vapour will be arrested by covering the glass, and thus prevent- 

 ing its cooling. 



Whilst on the subject of hand-lights, we may slate that for 

 ourselves, even for out- door protection, we should prefer small 

 wooden boxes with a top of one or two squares. It may be 

 different with others where there is a tradesman for evc-rvthing, 

 but wo have scarcely ever been able to show hand-lights as 

 they ought to be. The glazing is no great matter when num- 

 bers of a similar size are to be done ; but it is a long process 

 when you have to chip out and mend as you can, and somehow 

 points of shoes and boots, forks, spades, &c., seem to have an 

 irresistible attraction for the tides of a hand-light. A wooden 

 box would stand such touches with impunity. If there is 

 some peculiar charm in the shape of a hand-light, then the 

 wooden box may also be IS or 21 inches square. Elegant 

 boxes may thus be made, with ends sloping like the common 

 garden frame. But to our hard-working amateurs, or cottage 

 gardeners, who wish some simple contrivance by which they 

 may obtain early vegetables, and propagate more easily many 

 plants, we know of nothing more economical and useful than 

 square wooden boxes, say of IJ-inch deal, and from 7 to 

 9 inches in widih, with a frame of ono or two squares at the 

 top, the first, of course, being tho cheapest. Such boxes, for 

 economy, might ha nailed or pegged together as they come 

 from the saw, bo well tarred outside, and limewashed or coated 

 with anti-corrosion paint inside, and would then last many 

 years. Even if tho glass top were placed level across, the 

 water would find its way, and though no trouble had been 

 taken to give a slope to the box, and it was square all round, 

 the setting of one side 2 or 3 inches higher than the other 

 would be BufHeieut to cause all damp and rains to pa?s off 

 freely. As there seems to he a difficulty in obtaining those 

 large, coniiml, rough-coloured glas-cs used in some mnrket 

 gardena, and so abundantly ou the C jntinent, wo do not kn >w 

 of any other contrivances more simple, more suitable, and more 

 likely to meet the means of our pus-hiug cottage gardeners, 

 as almost everyone, having obtained the material, can make 



them if contented with tho useful rather than the ornamenial. 

 Even gardeners in large places ha\o to resort to many make- 

 shifts, or fall tiiv btliindin the race. In a great eslablithment, 

 where everything appeared to tho \i6w as if there must be 

 every oonveuiiuce, wo were astonished ou being admitted to 

 the working departments, to notico such a want of general re- 

 quifiites, and the constant strain thus ocons-ioued to the mind 

 of tho manager, not to look at difliculties, but to devise some 

 simple means for overcoming them. 



Pioptigution in Bcd.i of Feniunl'nuj iluUrial. — We advert to- 

 ihis as thus coming in our way, and becau.'ie it has occupied a 

 portion of our time. We have lately said onougli ou the 

 formation of such beds in a simple way, and with the smallest 

 necessary amount of material. Tho great point is to secure 

 sweetness, at least on the surface. Everything that LfiH com- 

 menced growing will now strike all thofastrr from being placed 

 in a hotbed slightly heated, or tho rever^^e, accoiding to the 

 character of the plant. Thus what wo said last wetk of the 

 Fuchsia would apply to plants and cuttings generally ; but 

 here is a cutting of an Azalea taken from a plant kejjt cool all 

 the winter. Such a cutting might be injured by placing it at 

 ODoe in a hotbed. It would bo more likely to succeed if pro- 

 tected with a bell-j-'hi.ss, and gently excited for two weeks or 60 

 by a temperature just a few degrees higher, and being set in 

 a hotbed when the base gave signs of swelling, it would then 

 soon root. If, however, an Azalea has been forced to bloom 

 early, and after blooming has been returned to a warm house 

 to make its wood early, small shoots slipped off as we de- 

 scribed for the Fuchsia, would soon stiike if placed in a 

 sweet bottom heat with a bell-glass over them. Pelargoniums, 

 Verbenas, Caloeolsrias, Tropa'olums, Pentstemons, and the 

 great bulk of our bedding plants, if growing at all when the 

 cuttings are taken, will now succeed admirably if set in a bed 

 with bottom heat beneath them. They will be all the more 

 robust if attention be paid to two points. First, After a few 

 days give a little air at night and shut up closely during the 

 day, especially if fine and bright. The close atmosphere then 

 lessens transpiration from the cuttings. At night and in dull 

 days there will be little demand on the cuttirgs in this respect. 

 Secondly, If the cuttings will stand without shading, give none ; 

 and shading even in bright days will be little needed if the rays 

 of light are somewhat diffused before reaching them. Cuttings 

 at 12 and 15 inches from the glass will stand an exposure to 

 Bunliyht that would shrivel them up at the distance of 6 inches. 

 If in a bright sun a slight dewing from the syringe will keep 

 the cuttings from flagging, prefer that to the shading ; but 

 shading should be given rather than let the cuttings be dis- 

 tressed. The difficulty as respects shading is removing it in 

 time. Placing the cuttings a reasonable distance from the glass 

 is a great security, and yet the direct, though more diffused, 

 light prevents the drawing up or weakening of the cuttings. 



These observations apply to striking cuttings in a rough way, 

 so as to strike numbers with a minimum of labour. When 

 despatch is an object, a warmer and closer atmosphere, as 

 obtained by bell-glasses, or such propagating glasses as alluded 

 to, must be used. 



B.ose Cuttings. — A correspondent wishes to know how to 

 mttnage a lot to be taken from plants in the open air, and bo 

 as to form plants as soon as ))0ssible. We would thus advise: 

 Take off the cuttings with a heel, as advised for Fuchsias, and 

 at least 3 inches long if possible, though much smaller will do. 

 Insert these in sandy soil, with sand ou the surface, round the 

 sides of the pots, and leave little more than a bud above the 

 surface. Set these on the surface of a slight hotbed, and give 

 air, especially at night, and keep close during the dr.y. In 

 from a fortnight to three weeks plunge the pots in the bed. 

 Some cuttings might be struck sooner by placing them in heat 

 at once, but a considerable number would most likely be lost. 

 If the Kose plants have been forced, the cuttings might at once 

 go iuto a mild bottom heat. 



Such mild sweet hotbeds as we have referred to are just the 

 places in which to put fresh-grafted Azaleas, Camellias, Oranges, 

 Daphnes, Correas, &e. The simplest mode, for example side- 

 grafting, is as good as any, but on these matters wo cannot 

 enter. Rosea may bo treated in the same way, especially if 

 the stocks are established in pots, but they will not stand 60 

 much heat at first as Azaleas and Camellias. — Pi. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 



F. & A. Dickson & Sons, lOG, Eastgate Street, and Upton 

 Nurseries, Chester. — Catalogue of New and Select Farm Seeds, 



