GEE 



[ 452 ] 



GBE 



place each pot under a bell-glass or a j 

 number under a hand-light, and shade 

 from the sun, either in a corner of the | 

 greenhouse, or better still in a close j 

 frame or pit without any artificial heat ! 

 being applied, at least none before the | 

 cutting begins to swell at its base, j 

 Some things may have bottom-heat at i 

 once, especially those that have been a ! 

 little forced previously. Though shade j 

 be indispensable, yet as much light as | 

 the cuttings will endure must be given, | 

 increasing the quantity gradually. 



Sowing Seeds. This may be done at j 

 any time when the seeds are thoroughly 

 ripe. As it is of importance to have 

 the seedlings potted off and established 

 before winter, April and May are the 

 best periods in several circumstances. 

 Where there is no hotbed the latter 

 period will be the best, and even then, 

 for confining heat and moisture, the pot 

 should be covered with a bell-glass, or 

 a square of glass laid over it. Where 

 there is a hotbed, such as a cucumber 

 frame, the seeds may be sown a month 

 or six weeks earlier, and hardened off 

 as soon as they are fairly up and potted 

 off. In sowing, any light sandy soil 

 will do ; for all fine hairy-rooted plants 

 sandy peat is the best. The pots 

 should be nearly as well drained as for 

 cuttings, watered and allowed to drain 

 before sowing, as the less water they 

 have afterwards until they are up the 

 better. Hard seeds that have been 

 kept dry over the winter will vegetate 

 all the sooner for being steeped several 

 hours in warm water, say from L'3 to 

 14. In covering the seeds the thick- 

 ness should be regulated by the size of 

 the seeds. Hence, for very small dusty 

 seeds, the surface of the fine soil should 

 be made smooth, the seeds evenly scat- 

 tered over it and slightly pressed in, 

 and then just dusted witli a little fine 

 sand, but in unpractised hands it is 

 safer to be content with the slight 

 pressing in, with a] clean round board 

 having a nail in the centre to hold by, 

 and then place a square of glass over 

 the pot, with moss or paper above to 

 shade until vegetation lias taken place. 



After Treatment of Cuttings mid Seed- 

 I'UUJK. This is almost identical. Neither ' 

 cuttings nor seedlings, if at nil thick, 



will thrive long in the cutting and seed- 

 ling pot. The sooner they are potted 

 off the better they will tbrive. Before 

 that, air must be given to prevent them 

 damping; first at night; next, night, 

 morning, and evening ; and lastly, when 

 roots are well formed, during the day 

 removing the glasses altogether from 

 the cuttings ; all this time, the little 

 moisture necessary must be carefully 

 given. The less it touches either the 

 stems or leaves, the better. When a 

 little advanced, dust them overhead 

 with a fine rose watering-pot, or a sy- 

 ringe, but be careful to have the foliage 

 dry before shutting up for the night. In 

 potting off tender plants that are very 

 small, three or four may be put round 

 the sides of a four-inch pot; a strong 

 growing one into such a pot at once. 

 In every such potting, and every time 

 that reshifting is necessary, a moist 

 close atmosphere is of importance for a 

 short time afterwards ; thus lessening, 

 by means of shading and syringing, the 

 evaporating processes until the roots 

 have begun to work in the new soil, 

 when air must be given, first gradually, 

 and ultimately plentifully. 



GREEN MANURE is a mass of recently 

 growing plants dug whilst green and 

 fresh into the soil, for the purpose of 

 enriching it; and it is a rule without 

 any exception, that all fresh vegetable 

 matters so turned into the earth do 

 render it more fertile, and if plants are 

 grown upon the soil for this purpose, 

 the greater the amount of the surface 

 of leaves in proportion to that of roots 

 the better, because such plants obtain 

 a large proportion of their chief consti- 

 tuent, the chief constituent of all 

 plants, carbon, from the atmosphere : 

 they, therefore, return to the soil more 

 decomposing matter than they have 

 taken from it. 



The putrefaction of the vegetables, 

 and the gases in that case emitted, says 

 Mr. Cuthbert Johnson, appear to be on 

 all occasions highly invigorating and 

 I nourishing to the succeeding crop. 

 During this operation, the presence of 

 water is essentially necessary, and is 

 most probably decomposed. The gases 

 produced vary in different plants; those 

 which contain gluten emit ammonia ; 



