THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 147 



upper ones, on the latter of which the leaves must be allowed to 

 remain. We have sometimes seen propagators who were very fond 

 of mutilating the leaves which are preserved on the cutting, by 

 shortening them to one-half their length, but for what object or upon 

 what physiological principle we could never yet divine ; suffice it to 

 say it is a most barbarous practice, and is most injurious to the 

 success of the operation. The cutting being thus prepared, the 

 operator should provide himself with a small dibber, which is gene- 

 rally made of a piece of common wood, varying from the thickness 

 of an ordinary black-lead pencil to that of the forefinger, according 

 to the thickness of the cuttings which are being planted. All small 

 cuttings should not be planted deeper than half an inch, for the 

 shallower they are planted, and the nearer to the edge of the pot they 

 are, the sooner will they take root. The number of cuttings to be 

 put in a pot must be regulated by the habit and strength of the 

 plant. When the cuttings are planted they should be well watered 

 and covered with a bell-glass or any old crystal covering, such as 

 broken decanters, disabled tumblers, or other such outcasts from the 

 china closet : such is the general management of cuttings. But we 

 shall now make a few observations on the various plants which the 

 amateur gardener is likely to have under his management ; we shall 

 not, however, launch out in too wide a field, for this is a subject to 

 which there exists no bounds. The operations, however, of our readers 

 being as limited as their space, and in many instances their time also, 

 we shall only consider here such plants as are requisite for bedding 

 out. and furnishing the flower borders during the summer and 

 autumn months. We shall suppose, then, that the flower borders 

 are this season all well furnished with fine, healthy, free-growing 

 plants of the following : Heliotropes, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Scarlet 

 Geraniums, Verbenas, Cinerarias, etc. etc., and that it is intended 

 to raise a young stock to preserve for bedding out next season, to 

 present to a friend, to furnish amusement, or for all three purposes. 

 The Heliotrope. — This is what is popularly termed Cherry-pie, 

 and, whether as a greenhouse plant or for bedding, is a universal 

 favourite. When grown in good soil which is well charged with 

 rotten dung, it makes a very free and luxuriant growth, supplying 

 during the whole of the summer and autumn a profusion of its gay 

 and odoriferous blossoms. In the month of August choose the ter- 

 minal shoots of some of the most luxuriant plants, and prepare the 

 cuttings as we have directed above, that is, by cutting close under a 

 joint. Let them be planted in the pot and placed in the frame, but 

 it will not be necessary to cover them with a bell-glass. In the 

 course of two or three weeks, the cuttings will not only have rooted, 

 but made considerable shoots ; they must then be potted off into 

 gle pots, filled with a compost of loam, sandy peat, and well- 

 de< omposi d stable manure; for this purpose a part of the old dung 

 bi-d on which the frame was formerly placed will be found of great 

 utility. Ah the plants fill these pots with roots they must be shifted 

 on into a size larger, in which they may remain during the winter; 

 when they have got this last shift they must be gradually hardened 

 oil, to prepare them to endure the vicissitudes of the ensuing winter. 



May. 



