264 General Notices. 



insert a piece of clay, or a small stone, in the opcnintT, to prevent, t 

 from adhering before the roots are formed. 



About the end of October, these early layers will have made sufficient 

 roots to admit of their being taken up and potted ; and it will thus be 

 seen how quickly a fine and vigorous collection of roses may be propa- 

 gated. 



The reason why only one bud should be inserted upon each stock is ob- 

 vious ; the latter, when lieaded down, furnishes its whole strength to the 

 bud, which soon forms as fine a head as a maiden peach, and a much 

 more handsome plant than if the supply had been divided between several 

 buds. 



All the unbudded shoots which remain upon the stools, can be layered 

 in the following spring, and may be budded in the course of the summer. 

 By the adoption of this plan, a whole year is saved ; instead of a crop of 

 layers to be taken off for planting out in nursery rows, to be budded in 

 the succeeding summer, here is a crop of fine young plants ready for being 

 potted the same seasoji. Many sorts, such as Bourbon, Noisette, China 

 and Tea Scented Roses, will, if well managed through the winter, flower 

 l)eautifully during the following spring and summer. In this manner, 

 plants of much greater strength can be raised, and in a much shorter 

 time, than from cuttings. For the amateur, they will make excellent 

 window plants, and to the gardener they will be invaluable for the green- 

 liouse and conservatory during winter and spring, and for planting out 

 during summer in the flower-garden, from whence after blooming through- 

 out the autumn, they must be again taken up and repotted for spring 

 flowering. There is little doubt but that the market florist would find a 

 ready sale for well grown roses in pots, as the taste for them is common 

 among all classes ; and a long bed planted and shaded after the manner 

 of tulips, would be a beautiful sight for summer visitors. — {Gard. Chron- 

 icle, 1842, p. 51.) [Now is just tlie season for making layers of the 

 Boursault rose ; if done any time, the early part of this month ; the lay- 

 ers may be budded in August or September, and they will make fine 

 plants for flowering next spring. We advise all who wish for fine plants, 

 and have good stools of the Boursault, to try the experiment. — FA.'\ 



Charcoal. — During the past year, various experiments have been in 

 progress to ascertain what effects would be produced upon plants by pot- 

 ting, or striking them, from cuttings, in charcoal; or by mixing it in va- 

 rious proportions in the soil in which they are to be grown. From what 

 has been published in Liebig's Organic Chemistry, and elsewhere, I had 

 been led to expect some very decided results ; but after varying the ex- 

 periments in many different ways, nothing has happened which proves 

 charcoal to be useful as a chemical agent in the growth of plants. When 

 pounded and used by itself, it is very apt to get too dry, and then runs 

 together and sets very hard. Some orchidaceous plants, gloxinias and 

 Cacti were potted in it, but they did not succeed, evidently from causes 

 above mentioned. When mixed with soil in the proportion of two thirds 

 of charcoal to one third of soil, and also in smaller quantities, such plants 

 as oranges, Ipomsa scabra, gesneras and Cacti, grew very well in the 

 mixture, but not better than others which were treated in the common 

 way. Cuttings of the common Caper, Ficus elastica, Eu^Awrhia Jacqui- 

 nafiora, Ipomae«, and various other kinds, were planted both in pounded 

 charcoal and in different proportions mixed with sand ; but the results 



