326 GENERAL REVIEW. 



desirable kinds ; and even the green-leaved seedlings should be 

 saved, as they frequently throw out the most beautiful " sports," 

 and the coloured branches, if desirable, can then be easily pro- 

 pagated by cuttings. Many of the finest of all the tricolor 

 varieties did not come variegated from seed, but sported from 

 green-leaved seedlings raised by crossing tricolors and other 

 zonal varieties. 



Nearly all the species and varieties of Pelargoniums are 

 readily propagated from cuttings of the current year's growth 

 inserted in June, July, or August. The zonal varieties may be 

 inserted even as late as September or October ; but it is best to 

 secure the cuttings before the rank watery autumn growth com- 

 mences. As to where and how to insert cuttings, I think it 

 was the late Donald Beaton who said, in his usual racy way, 

 that the best way to strike them was to dibble them into a 

 south border, and forget all about them till it was time to pot 

 them up. One of the most successful propagators of this class 

 of Geraniums I ever knew always struck his cuttings in a low 

 lean-to house, in a bed of soil over a flue : he never used any 

 pots, but simply dibbled the cuttings into the soil. There was 

 always a nice steady heat, but no damping (damp is the great 

 enemy to guard against). Hard-wooded cuttings of the large- 

 flowered and fancy races may be inserted when the plants are 

 cut back after blooming, or the superfluous shoots may be 

 slipped off and used as cuttings after the plants break. Insert 

 the cuttings in a well-drained pot surfaced with white sand, and 

 set it in an airy position, on a slight bottom-heat of about 65, 

 until the cuttings show signs of having emitted roots. 



Grafting. Almost all Pelargoniums may be readily grafted, 

 and many exhibitors of fancy and show varieties work their 

 plants on a strong-growing variety ' of the same section as a 

 stock. The scarlet or zonal group all do well worked on the 

 old Giant Tom Thumb, a vigorous variety sometimes met with 

 as a conservatory or greenhouse climber. Mrs Pollock, Lady 

 Cullum, and others of the golden-variegated zonal section of 

 Pelargoniums, make beautiful heads when grafted on stocks of 

 strong, free-growing, plain-leaved or zonal varieties. Those raised 

 from seed saved from good growers make excellent stocks, as 

 they are both strong and straight. For grafts I select medium- 

 sized, somewhat matured shoots, and after cutting off the head 

 of the stock to the height required, and removing only just as 

 much foliage as may be necessary, I whip-graft them, tying 

 them firmly with bast, and claying them over in the regular way. 

 I then place them in a shady, warm, and somewhat close posi- 

 tion, where they hardly feel the check ; and as soon as the grafts 



