302 Notes and Gleanings. 



The Propagatiox of Scarlet Geraniums for Bedding Purposes, 

 WITH A Select List of Varieties. — Simple as the propagation of this useful 

 but showy class of plants may appear to the practical horticulturist, yet to the 

 amateur it may be a difficult task, because other occupations or engagements 

 may so arrest his attention, that he may not have the time at his disposal for 

 making himself acquainted with all the details that are allied with success and 

 failure. 



If you have not commenced to propagate, the sooner you commence the op- 

 eration, the better, so that your plants may become strong and well established 

 by the period the dull months of the year have arrived. 



The most of us do not care, just when the plants are in full bloom, to begin 

 to deprive them of numerous flowers by the cutting-oft the shoots : but it 

 is rather an advantage than otherwise, if judiciously done; and that is by so 

 shortening the shoot or branch, that you leave some strong laterals just pushing 

 forth : these will grow very fast, and, with many sorts, continue to flower till they 

 are checked by frost. 



In selecting your cuttings, make choice of the wood which is a brownish 

 color, as that will prove to be the ripest : it should be firm, and not in the least 

 degree sappy or soft. I make it a rule to cut off the lower branches, as they, 

 being generally the first in the early part of the season to grow, have by this 

 time become the hardest. 



In preparing the cuttings, I do not cut them in short pieces, as I have ob- 

 served some persons to do, with the idea that they will by that means insure 

 dwarf, or rather bushy plants. If I can, I procure shoots that have lateral or 

 side branches. Having cut the shoot to a moderate length, it is inserted with 

 the side wood attached. By this method, I secure some good plants by the time 

 I require to pot them. Of course, this system must depend, in a great measure, 

 as to whether you can spare the wood so large ; because, if you are short of the 

 variety, and are anxious to multiply the number, then you must resort to the 

 practice of making short lengths, so as to make the most of your wood. 



The advice to allow your cuttings, after they are prepared, to remain for some 

 time exposed to the air before you attempt to insert them, under the idea that 

 they strike much quicker, because, by subjecting them to the influence of sun 

 and air, some persons believe that the sap they contain is so reduced in quantity 

 that all liability on the part of the cutting to decay is removed, is based upon a 

 theory which is now entirely exploded. 



As regards my own practice, I dissent from adopting such an opinion ; for I 

 believe, that, the more you can retain of the vitality of the cutting previous to 

 insertion, the more readily does it root. 



When large quantities have to be propagated, and you are desirous of 

 getting as many as possible potted into large 6o-size pots singly, — as soon as 

 they are rooted, and you have room for housing them in houses or pits, during" 

 the winter thus prepared, we adopt the following method in striking them : — 

 Having with a fork loosened the soil, on a border, that is fully exposed to the 

 sun's rays, we mix with the said soil some good decayed leaf-mould, if pro- 

 curable. We then dib our cuttings in rather thickly; and that we may preserve 



