PEL 



[622 ] 



PEL 



compost, press the seed down gently, 

 and cover it about a quarter of an inch. 

 If the seed is good, it will quickly ger- 

 minate, and should then be removed 

 from the hotbed, and placed upon a shelf 

 in the greenhouse near to the glass. 

 Water very moderately, or the plants 

 will be apt to damp off. As soon as the 

 seedlings have made their second leaf, 

 pot them off singly into two-inch pots, in 

 a compost of loam and leaf-mould, in 

 equal parts, with a liberal addition of 

 river-sand, finely sifted. Replace them 

 on the shelf, and shade for a time from 

 hot sunshine. The seedlings will soon fill 

 these small pots with roots. They must 

 then be re-potted into a size larger pot, 

 and subsequently be treated in the same 

 way as such as have been propagated by 

 cuttings. Keep them close to the glass, 

 and give abundance of air on all favour- 

 able occasions. As soon as the weather 

 will permit, place them out of doors, upon 

 a bed of ashes of sufficient thickness to 

 prevent worms from entering the pots. 

 The situation should be an open one, the 

 grand object being to ripen the wood, and 

 induce a stocky or bushy habit, so as to 

 insure their flowering the following sea- 

 son. The size of pots to flower them in 

 need not be more than four and a half 

 inches. When there is a fear of autumnal 

 frosts, remove them into the greenhouse, 

 and place them on a shelf, at such a dis- 

 tance from the glass as will serve to keep 

 them dwarf and bushy. There is no need 

 to top them in the manner recommended 

 hereafter for plants raised from cuttings, 

 the object being not to make fine speci- 

 mens, but to get them to flower as quickly 

 as possible the spring following. 



By Cuttings. Cuttings may be put in 

 and struck from March to August; the 

 general time, however, is when the 

 plants have done flowering, and require 

 cutting down to make bushy plants for 

 the nest season. This generally happens 

 from the end of June to the beginning of 

 August. 



The best place to strike the cuttings in 

 is a well- constructed propagating-house ; 

 but, as every one has not such a conve- 

 nience, they may be very successfully 

 propagated in a frame set upon a spent 

 hotbed, first removing the soil, and re- 

 placing it upon a thick coat of coal-ashes, 

 to keep out the worms. Upon this coat 

 place another of dry sawdust, to plunge 

 the cutting-pots. This dry sawdust will 



serve to absorb the moisture from the 

 earth in the pots and the necessary wa- 

 terings. The best soil is pure loam, 

 mixed with silver sand. The size of the 

 pots should neither be too large nor too 

 small five inches wide at the top is the 

 most proper. Some use small pots, and 

 only place one cutting in each. This, 

 where the cuttings are few and the con- 

 venience small, will be suitable enough. 

 It has this advantage, also, that the cut- 

 tings are, after being rooted, more con- 

 veniently repotted, without in the least 

 injuring the yeung and tender roots ; but 

 where the quantity to be increased is 

 large, the former method of putting 

 several cuttings in five-inch pots will bo 

 more convenient, and, with care, equally 

 as successful. Whichever method is 

 adopted, the pots must be well drained 

 with broken potsherds, the larger pieces 

 at the bottom, and smaller at the top. 

 Fill them to the top with the prepared 

 loam, which should be put through a ra- 

 ther coarse sieve to take out the stones, 

 roots of grain, and other extraneous 

 matter. It should not be pressed down 

 too hard, but made firm enough to hold 

 the cuttings fast. Another point is to use 

 it in a state neither wet nor dry. The 

 side-shoots which have not flowered, and 

 are not more than two inches long, make 

 the best cuttings. These should be cut 

 off close to the stem from whence they 

 spring with a sharp knife. Cut off the 

 bottom leaves close to the stem, leaving 

 only two of the uppermost. Place the 

 cuttings, after they are made, in a shady 

 situation, upon a dry board or slate, to dry 

 up the wound. This will take an hour on 

 a dry day, or two hours on a dull, cloudy 

 one. Then put them in the prepared 

 pots round the edge, inclining the leaves 

 inwards, so that they may not touch the 

 leaves of those in the contiguous pots 

 when they are placed in the frames, or 

 set upon the heated material in the pro- 

 pagating-house. When a pot is filled, 

 give it a gentle watering, and set it on 

 one side to dry up the moisture on the 

 leaves and surface of the soil. Then 

 plunge them in the frame, and shade 

 them carefully and effectually from the 

 sun, or even from the light. Reduce the 

 shade gradually, using it only during 

 bright sunshine. A little air may also be 

 given every day, by tilting up the lights 

 behind, if in a frame. The propagating- 

 house will only require air when the heat 



