80 PROPAGATION OF CAPE HEATHS BY CUTTINGS. 



Chrysanthemums, by seedlings being so readily obtained from that 

 species. This has been especially attended to by florists on the Con- 

 tinent, and many of the fruits of their success are now in the nursery 

 establishments of our own country, known as Minima Chrysanthe- 

 mums, or Pompons. A few of their beautiful varieties were figured 

 in the last year s volume of this Magazine. The plants are of dwarf 

 habit, handsome form, bushy, with dense, small foliage, and their 

 flowers small, compact, neat, many of them very elegant, and produced 

 in profusion. They highly merit a place in every greenhouse, sitting- 

 room, or garden ; and I doubt not but they will be cultivated for, and 

 be exhibited at, the Chrysanthemum shows as a distinct class. 



In order to bloom this class satisfactorily, it is necessary to have the 

 plants got on with as early as possible in the spring. They grow much 

 slower than our old class of Chrysanthemums do, and require a longer 

 period to be properly matured. 



Last July I procured from Belgium some other varieties of this 

 new class. The plants were only about three inches high, and with 

 every exertion to get them to bloom, I failed ; the plants did not even 

 show flower-buds : but by having nice healthy plants early in spring, 

 such will succeed, by proper treatment, to admiration. This I proved 

 by the first stock of plants I obtained in 1849, suckers of which I 

 potted oft' early in December, kept them in a cool frame from frost 

 during winter, and repotted twice afterwards. Some of the tribe are 

 perfect, gems when in bloom ; they appear as if covered with the best 

 double Daisies. 



PROPAGATION OF CAPE HEATHS BY CUTTINGS. 



BY AN OLD PRACTITIONER IN LONDON. 



Observing in the February number that " An Admirer of Heaths" 

 requested information on a successful method of propagating them by 

 cuttings, and desirous that he should be assisted in the matter, I have 

 drawn up the particulars of my mode of treatment, which has admi- 

 rably succeeded for near twenty years, during which period I have 

 raised fifty thousand plants of this beautiful tribe. 



Almost all will strike root freely by cuttings ; some sorts, however, 

 requiring a longer period to do so than others. The most eligible 

 wood for this purpose is the young wood of the present years growth, 

 when it becomes partially hardened, so as not to be liable to damp off. 

 It would be impossible to convey an idea to the uninitiated of the 

 proper state that the wood should be in for this purpose, but the culti- 

 vator who knows anything of the matter will readily understand me 

 when I say the wood should be fully matured, but before it had attained 

 its dark colour, and to be, when slightly pressed between the finger 

 and thumb, somewhat firm, but neither yielding to the touch nor yet 

 quite hard. In regard to the length of the cuttings, much depends on 

 the habit of the different species. Some of the robust-growing sorts 

 may be from an inch to an inch and a half in length, while others of 

 the more shy-growing kinds can only be obtained about half that length. 



