THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 149 



at their base ; the cuttings should then he allowed to remain for some 

 time in a dry, airy situation, so that the wound may be slightly dried, 

 and after this is done, they may be inserted in the cutting-pots. The 

 soil with which the pots must be filled should be of a fine sandy loam, 

 with a little mixture of leaf-mould. The size of the pots should not 

 exceed five inches, and indeed many propagators prefer inserting only 

 one cutting in a pot ; but as there will necessarily be failures, perhaps 

 the better way is to use the five-inch size. In inserting the cuttings, 

 they should be set all round the edge of the pots, which should now 

 be plunged into the soil of the bed. In the course of three weeks 

 or less they will have thrown out roots ; this can be ascertained by 

 taking hold of a leaf and gently pulling it; if it retains a firm hold 

 of the soil, it may reasonably be supposed that they have taken root, 

 but if not, they will come up readily. When it has been ascertained 

 that they have acquired a good supply of roots, they may be trans- 

 planted singly into what are called small sixty-pots, using the same 

 soil as we have recommended for the cuttings. Let these pots be 

 again returned to the frame, so that the plants may go on forming a 

 growth of shoots ; and after they have filled these pots they must be 

 removed into others of a size larger. After receiving this second 

 shift, they must be gradually hardened off by placing them in a 

 situation where they will get abundance of air, and this will be all 

 the treatment they will require before the following spring. About 

 the month of March the plants must be turned out of the pots in 

 which they have been kept during the winter, and all the old soil 

 shaken from the roots. The roots must be slightly reduced in bulk, 

 and the plants repotted into fresh, clean pots, with soil of the same 

 description as already mentioned, to which may be added a little 

 rotten dung. The plants must be kept in the frame until they have 

 made a growth, and all danger of late frosts is gone, when they may 

 be planted out in the flower borders. 



Scarlet Geraniums. — The same instructions which have been 

 given for the propagation and management of the Pelargoniums are 

 also applicable to the Scarlet Geraniums, except that, before planting 

 the cuttings, they should be kept for a day or two on a shelf in an 

 airy place, and allowed to become considerably dry. In keeping 

 Scarlet Geraniums during the winter, they must receive a very 

 small supply of water, indeed scarcely any at all, and kept in a dry 

 cellar where they will be securely protected from frost, and not 

 receive too much light : in other respects they may be treated in the 

 same way as other Pelargoniums. 



China and Tea-Scented Roses. — It is not only the China and Tea- 

 Scented Roses which may be propagated in the garden frame, but 

 also the Bourbon, Noisette, and Boursault varieties. The shoots 

 which are adapted for making cuttings are those of the current 

 year's growth, and they should not be too old or very firmly set; 

 those which are rather tender, and only just beginning to set at the 

 base, are the best. The cuttings should be stripped off with a heel 

 to them, and then smoothed with a sharp knife. The soil with 

 which the pots should be filled must be well-decomposed leaf-mould, 

 and the cuttings inserted all round the side of the pot, and so 



V.:.... 



