AUTUMN AND WINTER NOTES FOR THE AMATEUR. 



Fig. 1691. — Geranium cut back in the Fall. 



special favorites particularly, dug up 

 from the beds in their full vigor, potted 

 with great care, with foliage and flowers 

 complete ; the result being, if they grow 

 and survive the winter at all, that only 

 tall, lanky, almost leafless specimens are 

 secured, and which by bedding out time 

 in May or June are such miserable look- 

 ing objects that one feels tempted to throw 

 them on therubbish pile rather than plant 

 them near nicely grown plants. The 

 method I follow is to procure a flat wood- 

 en box without a cover, of the size requir- 

 ed, and about three inches deep, with a 

 few small holes bored through the bottom 

 to secure drainage, dig the plants up 

 from the beds before frost, and prune the 

 tops back severely. The large roots also 

 may be cut back, leaving all of the small 

 fibry roots possible. The accompany- 

 ing small photo of a plant cut back, 

 ready to plant in the box, will give a 

 good idea how to perform this operation. 

 Place Che plants rather deep and close 

 together in the box without crowding 

 too closely, filling the box nearly to the 



top as you proceed with fine sand. 

 Rinse sand from a stone road will 

 answer, but lake or river sand is prefer- 

 able. The plants should be a little deeper 

 in the sand than they were in the soil in 

 the garden. Water the plants once thor- 

 oughly, place the box near the window 

 in a warm place, and water only when 

 the sand shows signs of dryness, avoid- 

 ing keeping the roots too wet. After 

 the plants have started growth well, re- 

 move the box to a rather cool position 

 near the window so as to avoid a rapid, 

 sappy growth. The plants can remain in 

 the box undisturbed until spring, except 

 to pick out any decayed or too crowded 

 foliage, when they can be taken out and 

 potted singly into ordinary potting soil 

 and grown on for use in beds or borders ; 

 they will produce nice stocky, dwarf 

 plants that will reward their owner with 

 a wealth of flowers that cannot be ob- 

 tained from young plants, and will 

 amply repay for the time and attention 

 given them. A box twelve inches square 

 of the depth mentioned will hold a 

 dozen or more ordinary sized plants 

 easily. 



^Cuttmgs of ger- 

 aniums taken m 

 August or early m 

 September can be 

 grown in a similar 

 way to that recom- 

 mended for the 

 old plants except 

 that a box two 

 inches deep will 

 be better for 

 them than a deep- 

 er one. Cutting 

 Fig. 1692.— Slip. prepared ready to 

 plant is shown in the photograph. 



W. Hunt. 



Hamilton. 



457 



