Answers to Queries, and Qiteries. 379 



well, with the exception of its tops being killed down a few inches ; and it 

 has suffered in the same way by the frost of several winters since. 



" Lascombe, near Exeter, Feb. 10. 1827. Richard Saunders." 



Cultivation of the CEnothera ccespitosa and the Galdrdia bicolor. — "I beg 

 leave to recommend a plan which I have pursued for the last few years with 

 invariable success. Both plants are extremely impatient of moisture, and 

 therefore must be watched early in the winter. The plan pursued was the 

 following : When the weather became cold and damp, (perhaps about 

 November,) the plants were examined, and, if the soil was too wet, it was 

 taken from about the roots, and light, dry soil substituted ; the plants covered 

 entirely with dry saw-dust, over which was placed a flower-pot, or a pot 

 that is generally used for forcing sea-kale. During the winter the saw-dust 

 was occasionally examined, lest it should be wet, which is the principal thing 

 to attend to. About March, or when the probability of frost was over, the 

 saw-dust was removed, and a little fresh soil put about the roots, and the 

 plants generally covered for a sb^grt time with a hand glass, giving air 

 occasionally. 



" I have also pursued a method of propagating the CEnothera csespitosa, 

 which, perhaps, may not generally be known ; and it is valuable, as it 

 enables this beautiful plant to be increased rapidly. Before the frost sets 

 in, the plant must be taken out of the ground, all the soil shaken from it, 

 and the roots broken in small pieces of about an inch or an inch and a half 

 in length. These pieces must be planted in a pot of light soil, rather dry, 

 and kept in a frame without any. water throughout the winter. When the 

 chance of frost is over, a little water may be given, when, in all probability, 

 the roots will have begun to shoot, and it will be found that each piece 

 of root will become a plant, that will flower the ensuing summer. — I am 

 not well acquainted with the Asclepias tuberosa, named also by your cor- 

 respondent ; but may not the plan pursued for keeping Dahlias be used with 

 safety? Should the above be worth a place in your valuable Magazine, I 

 shall feel pleasure in having been a contributor. 



" Foxteth Park, Liverpool, March 8. 1827. M. R." 



" Asclepias tuberosa is increased by cuttings of the roots, taken from the 

 plant about the latter end of August or the beginning of March. Plant 

 them close round the inside of a pot in a mixture of light rich loam and 

 sandy peat, covering them about one-fifth of an inch." — Win. Nott, Taun- 

 ton Nursery. 



Will Barley germinate after having been malted? — "I think it will, if 

 not too far advanced. I have two pots by me growing vigorously. Has 

 the experiment been tried before, or with barley which has sprung an inch 

 or more?" — Hordeum, Nov. 27. 1826. 



Mr. Hogg's Ideas on breaking Tidips. — "I think Thomas Hogg (who, 

 by the way, is a friend of mine,) deserves to be severely reprimanded for 

 raising the curiosity of poor florists, by a long article on a new plan for 

 breaking tulips, and bringing the said article to a conclusion, without afford- 

 ing them a single ray of light upon the subject. If he will detail his plan, 

 and should it prove as you suppose, I think I could convince him it is im- 

 possible. J. W." — " Mr. Hogg's plan of breaking tulips is probably that 

 of halving the bulb lengthways, and joining to it, in the way of a graft, half 

 the bulb of a tulip already broken. It is said that a set of a red and a 

 set of a white potato, joined together in this way, will produce variegated 

 offspring. J. G. Hampstead" — " Mr. Hogg's effusion on breaking tulips is 

 a paper which you should not have admitted. A. G. Perthshire." — We 

 hope Mr. Hogg will join with us in doing penance and making compensation, 

 by discovering his secret in next number. Cond. 



Tulip Bulbs, in reply to S. — Sir : Your correspondent S. wishes to be in- 

 formed why, when the incipient leaves of tulips are discernible at the season 



