BRIEF REMARKS. 65 



bulb, and over it the loam to the brim. After potting, they should be 

 placed in a cool pit or frame, to be kept from frost in winter. Thus 

 grown, I have had them bloom of a much larger size than I ever saw 

 elsewhere. — Clericus. 



Coloured Glass. — A few years back a great stir was made about 

 the advantages it afforded to cuttings of plants ; they struck root much 

 sooner, and grew more successfully. I have tried it repeatedly, but I 

 do not realize any advantages. I find the common rough glass to be 

 far the best ; it admits sufficient light, but is dark enough to preserve 

 the vegetation from being scorched by the sun. — Amicus. 



Leschenaultias. — Cuttings of these beautiful plants, taken when 

 the young wood has just began to harden, and cut close under a joint, 

 at about an inch and a half long, then, having a good drainage in the 

 pot, fill up witij sand and peat, in equal parts, to about an inch and a 

 half from the rim ; lay upon this silver sand to the level of the rim ; 

 water it, and then insert the dressed cuttings about half their length, 

 and press the sand closely to them, and give them, finally, a watering 

 sufficient to settle all together. When dry, place over them a bell- 

 glass, and sink the pots in a frame, or bark pit, where there is a gentle 

 bottom heat, and in a very short time they will strike root. Put in a 

 hundred, and scarcely one will fail. — A London Propagator. 



Dwarf Chrysanthemums. — Some useful remarks on having dwarf 

 blooming plants of this lovely tribe of flowers are given in the last two 

 volumes of this Magazine. Since I read them I have adopted the 

 method, but found it rather hazardous, of breaking the ends of the 

 shoots at the part I cut them, where roots are to be expected. To 

 prevent tiiat, I wrap a piece of worsted round the stem, at the part 

 where I am about to cut, having the coils a little above half an inch 

 apart. This allows me quite space enough to cut the shoot for the 

 tongue, and at the same time preserves the shoot from breaking. 

 When about to layer, I have some soil mixed up to stiff mud, and the 

 tongue being cut, I bend it sligiitly, and rub a portion of the mud into 

 the incision made, which keeps it open; and when the shoots are finally 

 bent into the pots sunk in the open border, and so covered up, not one 

 has failed of quickly rooting. As soon as well rooted, I have them 

 severed from the parent plant, well furnished with flower-buds, and 

 taken into the house for blooming. — A Country Curate. 



IxiAS, Sparaxis, and other Cape bulbs of that kind, I find should 

 be re-potted in October, and plunged in a cool frame, or they may be 

 planted out in a frame of prepared soil, and their elegant blossoms 

 used for decorative purposes. It is not by any means a good plan to 

 part these plants too frequently, as it causes them to produce weaker 

 and fewer flower-stalks in the following season. If grown in pots, 

 therefore, unless they are very much crowded, it is best merely to turn 

 the ball out of the pot, and after carefully removing as much of the 

 soil as can be managed without disturbing the bulbs, to replace them 

 in the same or a larger pot, and surround them with fresh soil. For 

 the smaller growing kinds, the compost should be light and sandy, 

 containing a considerable admixture of peat; but for Gladioli, and 

 others of similar growth, a soil somewhat richer should be used. These 



Vol. xviii. No. 39.— N.S. g 



