592 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Photo: R. A. Matty. 



An alpine Pink (Dianthus neglectus) 



also be put about the plants and watered in. 

 A good recipe for a liquid fertiliser for alpines 

 is as follows : 48 grains of nitrate of potash ; 

 68 grains phosphate of potash, 45 grains of 

 sulphate of magnesia, and 45 grains of nitrate 

 of lime, dissolved in 40 gallons of water. A 

 smaller quantity may be prepared in the same 

 proportions. 



Most of the advertised artificial fertilisers 

 can be applied with benefit in spring. It is 

 safer to use a smaller proportion for alpines 

 than that recommended for border plants. 

 A little basic slag is helpful to some rock 

 plants, but one of the safest and best manures 

 is fine bone-meal or bone-dust forked into the 

 soil in early spring. It has a most beneficial 

 effect upon many flowers, especially those 

 that are lime-lovers. 



Propagation by division is best effected 

 as soon as the plants have finished flowering. 

 The classes of alpines best adapted for this 



are those which make distinct 

 growths from the roots, such 

 as Aster, Erigeron, Geum, 

 and others. Each portion 

 should, if possible, be taken 

 off with a few roots attached ; 

 if they are put under a glass 

 or handlight for a short time 

 the formation of new roots 

 is expedited. This attention, 

 however, is rarely necessary ; 

 slight shade and watering 

 after planting is generally all 

 that is required. 



Propagation by cuttings ^ 

 a favourite method of in- 

 creasing certain alpines. The 

 ordinary plan is to take off 

 a shoot, either with or with- 

 out a piece of the old wood 

 attached at the base ; remove 

 a few of the lower leaves, 

 insert the cuttings round the 

 edge of a pot filled with sandy 

 soil, and water them in. The 

 pot of cuttings is then 

 plunged in sand or put into 

 a larger pot, and the space 

 between the two filled with 

 moss to keep the soil moist. 

 A still better plan is to put 

 the cuttings round the edges 

 of the larger pot, placing a small one in 

 the centre, and filling this with moss 

 or leaving it open for watering. A sheet 

 of glass is placed on top and kept there 

 until the cuttings are rooted, though it 

 is removed and wiped dry daily. When 

 the cuttings are rooted they should be 

 potted into separate flower-pots. June 

 and July are the best months in which 

 to insert cuttings. A few plants such as 

 Morisia hypogaea are increased by cutting 

 the roots into lengths of about an inch or 

 rather less and putting them on end in pots 

 of very sandy soil in late autumn or early 

 spring, keeping the thicker end of the cutting 

 upwards and just at the surface of the soil. 

 Subsequently growths will appear at the 

 apex, and after a month or so the root 

 cuttings may be potted off singly. 



What is known as the " express method " 

 of striking cuttings is often followed by 



