584 PROPAGATOR'S CALENDAR. 



mental Plums, Cherries, Aucubas, and other ornamental shrubs, including 

 Conifers, may be grafted in heat or in the open ground. Sow Cucumbers, 

 Melons, Tomatoes, Egg-plants, Capsicums, French Beans, and Salading 

 for succession. Start early Potatoes in shallow boxes. Start Dahlias for 

 cuttings or grafting, also all kinds of sub-tropical plants, such as Cannas, 

 Solanums, &c. If not already done, the finer varieties of Clematis may 

 now be grafted on the roots of C. viticella or C. azureus ; or pieces of their 

 own roots develop buds and shoots if placed in heat. This is a good time 

 to graft some of the best Daphnes, for which rooted cuttings or layers of 

 the Common Spurge, D. laureola, or seedlings of D. Mezereum, make good 

 stocks. D. indica and its varieties take well to stocks of D. laureola, and 

 should be grafted in a heated frame or case, splice, whip, or cleft grafting 

 being equally successful. Cuttings of Hydrangeas should be put in to 

 grow on for next year as soon as the plants are sufficiently forward to dis- 

 tinguish which of the shoots are without bloom-buds, as, when taken off 

 in the young soft state directly they are long enough for the purpose, they 

 soon take root if placed in gentle moist heat. If tuberous-rooted Begonias 

 of the B. boliviensis section have been started in heat early in the year, 

 cuttings may now be taken off and rooted freely in sawdust or sawdust 

 and sand, on a genial bottom-heat. It is necessary to propagate these 

 plants early, so that they can form strong tubers before winter, otherwise 

 they are apt to perish. Cuttings from freshly-started plants which have 

 not flowered are by far the best. B. Veitchii, B. rosceflora, and even the 

 variety called Corail Rose, come true from seed, which, if gathered in the 

 autumn and sown early the following spring, \vill flower the same year. Most 

 of the species of Begonia may be readily multiplied from seed. The cross- 

 bred varieties of the B. Sedenii, B. intermedia, and B. Chelsoni types are, 

 however, very variable when propagated in this manner (as indeed are most 

 other cross-bred plants), so that the only sure way of perpetuating them is 

 from cuttings. Vines may now be grafted (see pp. 82, 570). A correspondent 

 of the ' Journal of Horticulture ' records his success in grafting bearing wood 

 on an unfruitful Vine : Pieces of old short-jointed and fruitful wood, saved 

 from the autumn pruning, \vere preserved fresh by burying them about an 

 inch deep in the open ground ; and in the spring, when the barren Vine 

 commenced to break, these pieces were splice-grafted, some on the old 

 rod, others on the laterals, the cut parts or splice being about six inches in 

 length, and these were neatly fitted together and secured by matting, the 

 whole being protected with moss. The lower ends of the grafts were 

 inserted in bottles of water suspended from the roof. After the union had 

 been effected and growth had begun, the scions were stopped in the usual 

 way, the growth of the stock being restricted to allow them the lead, and 

 the result was good bunches of really fine Grapes on a Vine which had been 

 barren for years. 



APRIL. 



Kitchen and Hardy-Fruit Garden. This is a busy seed month, and 

 main crops not sown last month should be now got in without delay. Sow 

 Asparagus, Kale, Beans twice, Beet. Borecole, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, 

 Cardoon, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Celery, Chou de Milan, Couve 

 Tronchuda, Cress, Cucumber, French Beans, Gourds, Herbs (sweet and 

 pot), Leek, Lettuce, Mustard. Ohio Squash, Onions, Parsley, Parsnip, Peas 

 twice, Radish twice, Rampion, Runner Beans, Salsify, Savoy, Scorzonera, 

 Spinach, Turnip, Vegetable Marrow. Complete the grafting of fruit-trees, 



