THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 277 



borne in noble trusses. Mrs. Aiogusta Miles and Welbech Nosegay 

 are also good bedders, and can be recommended where a large 

 number of varieties are required. 



The above comprises the very cream of the geraniums grown 

 for their flowers, and I would advise my readers to commence with 

 as little delay as possible the work of propagating a stock for next 

 year. The medium-sized shoots should be selected, and the cuttings 

 be inserted in a border facing the south, or in an open quarter. 

 They should be dibbled in, a few inches apart ; and unless the 

 weather and the soil are very dry, they should receive no water what- 

 ever. In any case, they should not be watered until after the third 

 or fourth day of their being inserted. But few will damp ofi", pro- 

 bably not more than fire per cent. ; whereas, if they are inserted in 

 pots, and shut up in frames, according to the orthodox method, quite 

 fifty per cent, at least will, in all probability, perish, aa the shoots 

 are now so full of sap. Some care will be required in taking the 

 cutting, so as not to spoil the appearance of the beds and borders 

 at this early period ; and a few of each variety should be taken at a 

 time, to avoid making any blanks. The variegated varieties must 

 also be propagated early, and in the same manner as recommended 

 for those grown for their flowers. 



[The foregoing was written for publication last month, but came to hand too 

 late. We advise those who are now propagating geraniums to put the cuttings in 

 pots.— Ed. F. W.] 



PLANTS— THEIE STEUCTUEB AND USES. 



BT MR. J. E. TATIOB, F.G.S., 

 Curator of the Ipswich Museruni 



SERIES of lectures on the above subject has been delivered in the Tem- 

 perance Hall, Ipswich. In his first lecture, Mr. Taylor confined his 

 attention to the very lowest forms of vegetable life, and explained the 

 material from which both animal and vegetable forms were constructed. 

 He proceeded to show that all organisms are cellular, and these mere cells 

 had in some instances an individual existence. These atoms or diatoms, as they are 

 called, were to be found in plenty in rivers, and it was their constant formation and 

 decay which produced the greater part of the black mud of the rivers. These minute 

 organisms, which were first considered to be animalcnlre, would be found, on close exa- 

 mination, to be composed of material similar to that which entered into the composi- 

 tion of flint, and they could bo passed through fire without injury to their form. After 

 giving interesting information as to the structure of these organisms, Mr. Taylor 

 stated that their powers of reproduction were so great that a single diatom, in some 

 species would, in the course of four days, have produced 14:0,000,000, which would 

 perhaps all be contained in two cubic feet. Owing to their rapid growth and ac- 

 cumulation, harbours in some parts of the world rapidly became silted up, and 

 herein lay the secret of one of tlie greatest engineering difficulties. They torraed 

 the greater part of the mud of rivers, and its blackness was owing to their decom- 

 position. They were concerned in the struggle for existence continually going on 

 in the world, and they must and would live, for God had made them to live. liy 

 putting the sewage into the river, they rendered the water fitter for the growth and 

 life of these plants, in the same way as the land would be fertilized by its de- 

 position thereon, and they were thus aiding the silting up of the shallow waters of 

 the river. 

 September. 



