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Syringing. This is a most valuable 

 mode of applying water, as it promotes 

 cleanliness, and is as necessary for re- 

 moving dust and incrustations from the 

 foliage as soap and water are for clean- 

 ing our own skins. In winter it should 

 be done at mid-day, when the sun 

 shines ; in spring and autumn, in the 

 morning ; in summer, chiefly in the 

 evening, though at that season we fre- 

 quently give them a dash several times 

 a day. 



Pruning. This is generally done 

 when the plant has finished flowering 

 when we wish it to start into fresh 

 growth. Of course there are excep- 

 tions; without these exceptions the 

 nature of a plant and the mode of its 

 growth must be the basis for a system 

 of pruning. For instance, we cut down 

 the flowering shoots of an Epacris and 

 a Pelargonium; but we act very dif- 

 ferently both before and after in the 

 two cases. The Epacris is hard-wooded, 

 and if tolerably ripened it requires no 

 preparation. The long branches of 

 most kinds are cut in at once, and the 

 plant is then transferred to a closer 

 and warmer atmosphere to encourage 

 the formation of new shoots ; a cold 

 pit, kept close, is the thing; some 

 people, with great success, keep them 

 a couple of months in a plant stove. 

 Of course they are duly hardened, and 

 the wood ripened by autumn. On the 

 other hand, the stems of the Geranium 

 are soft and spongy ; if a very valuable i 

 kind, this will have been increased by 

 shading, to preserve the colour of the 

 flower. The plant altogether is at a 

 minimum as respects its possession of 

 organisable material; while, for the 

 sake of the old plant to be kept, and 

 the cuttings for seed from its stems, it 

 is desirable it should be at the maxi- 

 mum. The plants are, therefore, ex- 

 posed fully to the sun ; not a drop 

 more water is given than just to keep 

 the leaves from flagging ; and the 

 stems, instead of being soft and green, 

 become hard and brown, by parting 

 with their watery evaporations, and as- 

 similating fresh solid material. Many 

 other close-headed plants, such as the 

 Azalea, merely require, in general, the 

 stopping of a few of the strongest shoots. 



Time of Pottiny. This should gene- 

 rally be done after pruning, and when 

 fresh growth has taken place, because 

 it is advisable never to give more checks 

 to a plant at once than can be avoided. 

 When cut down, or pruned, the energies 

 in the stems and the un-mutilated, un- 

 touched roots, are at once put forth in 

 the production of fresh shoots. When 

 these are formed and forming, and the 

 plant is kept close for a time after 

 shifting, fresh roots will soon be formed 

 j through their agency, upon the same 

 I principle that roots are protruded from 

 a cutting of half-ripened wood under a 

 hand-glass. 



Time for Cuttings. Now we speak 

 merely in general terms. Other things 

 being equal, the older and harder the 

 wood of the cutting, the longer will it 

 be in striking. The younger the wood 

 is, provided it is just hard enough at 

 the base to possess a sufficiency of 

 organisable material, the sooner it will 

 strike ; if too soft and spongy it will 

 rot and damp off; hence the general 

 time for propagating is regulated by 

 the general time of pruning and fresh 

 growth taking place. Small side shoots, 

 from If to 3 inches in length, just 

 getting firm at the base, cut to a point 

 with a clean, sharp knife, or taken off 

 close to the older branch, and a few of 

 the lower leaves removed, will succeed 

 in the great majority of cases. It is 

 desirable to get them in in April or 

 May, in the case of slow growing 

 plants, to have them established before 

 winter. Wo shall merely add a few 

 requisites ; 1st, clean pots ; 2nd, secure 

 drainage by an inverted small pot in- 

 side a larger one, or by crocks so as to 

 fill it three-quarters full; '3rd, place 

 rough material or moss over the drain- 

 age to prevent the finer soil washing 

 through it ; 4th, cover it with an inch 

 or so of sandy soil, similar to what the 

 plants delight in, if a little charcoal is 

 added all the better, finishing with a 

 layer of pure sand, watering all Avell 

 and then allowing it to drain before in- 

 serting the cuttings ; oth, insert the 

 cuttings firmly, fill the small holes 

 made by the dibber with sand, dew all 

 over with the fine rose of a watering- 

 pot, allow the foliage to become dry, 



