DIRECTIONS FOR PROVIDING TENDER PLANTS, &C. 11 



number of plants to furnish it annually, a prospect that would have 

 appalled even the best gardeners of yore ; but at the present day, 

 where sufficient means are allowed, the propagation of the plants is 

 a matter of no difficulty. In cuttings, put in during February or 

 March, failures seldom occur; when they do, they are generally the 

 effect of too much confinement, and not, as is often assumed, of too 

 much water. For the sort of cuttings I am speaking of, during the 

 early part of the season, double glass is altogether unnecessary ; wa- 

 tering them overhead during sunshine, while air is admitted, will 

 prove of more service than covering them with glasses or shading, a 

 practice that ought to be avoided. 



The inexperienced will find a frame with a little bottom heat, 

 covered 4 or 5 inches deep with light soil, the cuttings planted in 

 the soil, a most efficient apparatus ; and those who possess a stove 

 or hothouse will find that cuttings in pots, plunged in the bark-bed, 

 and fully exposed to the light, will root without further trouble. 



The introduction of so many plants into the houses at a time when 

 those wintered there are beginning to grow, and require more room, 

 is a serious evil ; to remove which as soon as possible, we are apt 

 either to turn out the plants before the proper season, when they 

 often suffer so much from premature exposure, that we are forced to 

 replenish the beds, or endure their squalid appearance during half 

 the season ; or to retain the young plants, fifty or sixty together, in 

 the cutting-pots, until they are finally turned out. This, no doubt, 

 saves room, the labour of potting, and watering in a great measure; 

 but it is the practice of the sluggard, and ought to be avoided with all 

 his doings, as the plants invariably thrive better when potted singly, 

 and allowed to establish themselves in the pots. To avoid these 

 habits, and still retain house-room for more important purposes, 

 select a sheltered spot, fully exposed to the sun, over which erect a 

 temporary framework of rafters to support a roller, with canvass or 

 matting. Cover the bottom of the space enclosed with sand. When 

 the plants have been potted off, the pots filled with roots, and tole- 

 rably hardened, let them be taken to this shelter, carefully turned 

 out of the pots, and each plant placed upon a small piece of turf 

 previously placed upon the sand. As the plants are not expected to 

 increase much in size while they remain here, they may be placed 

 rather close together, thereby sheltering each other, and making the 



