f»02 GARDEN MANAGEMEirr. 



be directed towards furnishing a supply of plants for another year. The 

 class of ijlants which will require propagation first are geraniums, of which 

 both the fancy and common bedding kinds must be struck in time to get 

 established in small pots before winter, and the different scarlets and horseshoe- 

 leaved cinerarias, — there is no plant more useful for decorative purposes ; many 

 •ve, besides, deliciously fragrant, and there is none whose cultivation is 

 more simple. At this time the plants sown in June should be dwarf and 

 compact specimens ; select healthy plants from those potted off in July, 

 which will now be about three inches high and well rooted ; and shift them 

 into 5-inch pots, in a compost of good turfy loam and well-decomposed cow- 

 dung, mixed with a little leaf-mould and silver sand, to keep the soil open ; 

 giving plenty of good drainage, which is essential to the health of these 

 plants. When well rooted in the new pots, pinch out the leading shoots. 

 When they have made fresh growth, look carefully over them again, and 

 pinch out all weak shoots, and such of the old leaves as interfere with the 

 free circulation of light and air round the stems, and place them thinly 

 near to the glass in the front of the green-house, cold pit, or frame ; in 

 the latter case, raising the lights on flowerpots to secure free ventilation. 

 When they have made considerable progress, a second shift may be given, 

 using the same compost. In February give a final shift, when a stronger 

 compost should be used, adding to the former a little well-decomposed night- 

 soil, or an increased quantity of cow-dung, with a smaller supply of leaf- 

 mould. Continue to thin weak shoots and supei-fluous leaves, in order to 

 throw the whole vigour of the growth into the leading shoots. When strong 

 enough, stake them, and tie them out as wide as possible : by this means 

 the side-shoots will soon fill up tlie intermediate spaces. Fumigate frequently, 

 to prevent the green-fly, whi^. ^ is the pest of this plant. 



1548. When the pot is pretty well filled with roots, water with liquid 

 manure, which will preserve the leaves in a fresh green state, and give 

 additional brilliancy to the flowers. 



1549. Seeds sown in the beginning of August, and potted off into store pots 

 when large enough, make good plants for spring purposes. Potting into 

 store pots prepares them for separate potting ; theu* after-treatment being 

 the same as above. The process of stopping retards their bloom, and 

 strengthens the flowers : where earlier bloom is required, therefore, a 

 modified treatment is to be adopted. When the flowering season is over, 

 remove them to a shaded place, preserving all the leaves, and watering 

 slightly, guarding them irora insects until August, when cuttings may be 

 taken from the old roots. When these are separated from the plant, the 

 roots may also be separated and potted out ; every particle of the root being 

 capable, under proper treatment, of propagating a plant ; these old ones 

 being the best plants lor early fiowej-ing, they may be divided even up to 

 October. 



1550. Sir. Glenny has givta a very interesting monograph of this flower in 

 the " Gardener's Magazine of Botanyj" In which he justly assumes the 



