PRINCIPLES OF VEGETATION, ETC. 133 



them in slightly- damped moss, or to drop them lightly into a wide-mouthed 

 bottle, having a piece of damp sponge at the bottom and a coveriug of muslin 

 over the top. In either of these methods a callus is soon formed, and the 

 cuttings readily throw out roots. Cuttings of young gi-een shoots, however, 

 require a very different treatment : they must be so managed as never to be 

 allowed to flag, and the following appears to be the best method that can be 

 pursued. Put silver-sand about an inch deep into shallow pans (common 

 saucers answer every purpose), and in these plant the cuttings. Then pour 

 carefully upon the sand enough water to make a thin sheet about it. The 

 lower leaves of the cuttings ai'e to be removed before planting, and the stalk 

 fixed firmly into the sand before the water is poured on. These tender young 

 green shoots, or cuttings, will be better for a little shade and heat. A piece 

 of thin muslin or tissue-paper will provide the former, and heat may be had 

 by placing the pan of cuttings over a basin of hot water, re-filled twice a 

 day. These cuttings will be rooted and ready for potting off before the water 

 in which they are grown has dried up. 



300. Geraniums.— To Stril-e CxMings of Scarlet and other Geraniums.— Cwt- 

 tings of all sorts of geraniums for bedding the following year should be struck 

 early : from the last week in July to the end of the first week in August is 

 very good time. They should be taken in dry weather, when the parent plant 

 has had no water for some days, and they should be kept to dry twenty-four 

 hours after they have been prepared for potting. The more succulent sorts, 

 and any that appear difficult to strike, may with advantage be touched at the 

 end with a small paint-brush dipped in collodion, which will serve to hasten 

 the callus which the cutting must form before it will throw out roots. They 

 may be potted four or six in a pot, according to size. It is essential that the 

 pots be well fitted with drainers, that the soil be light and sandy, and that it 

 be pressed tight round the joint of the cuttings, which should be buried in it 

 as flat as possible. When potted, they may be sunk in the ground on a 

 south border, and well watered in the evening, when the sun is off. They 

 will require no shading, except the sun be very scorching ; and, in this case, 

 they must not be kept from the light, but merely screened fiom ths scorching 

 rays of the sun. They may flag a little, but this is of no importance ; in two 

 or three days they will recover, and put forth roots. If they grow too freely 

 before it is time to take them in for the winter, the top shoots should be 

 broken ofij and in this way they will make strong bushy plants. 



301. To Preserve the Old Plants of Scarlet Geraniums through the Winter.— 

 Take them out of the borders in autumn, before they have received any injury 

 from frost, and let this be done on a dry day. Shake ofl:" all the earth from their 

 roots, and suspend them, with their heads downwards, in a cellar or dark room, 

 where they will be free from frost. The leaves and shoots will become yellow 

 and sickly ; but when potted about the end of May, and exposed to a gentle 

 heat, they will recover and vegetate luxuriously. The old plants, stripped of 

 their leaves, may also be packed closely in sand ; and in this way, if kept free 

 from frost, they will shoot out from the roots, and may be re-potted in the spring. 



