452 Procuring Sand for striking Cuttings. 



All the above experiments were made during the past year. 

 They are sufficient at present to justify the experiment, to direct 

 attention to it, and to induce a greater application of moss to 

 useful purposes. In this respect I have in view the following 

 experiments : — 



1. Raising turnip-rooted celery in moss balls. In my soil it 

 throws out, instead of a single large turnip, a small one with 

 many strong roots, but useless for cooking. I hope, from the 

 porosity of the moss, to produce many hair roots, and also a 

 large turnip. 



2. A flower-bed filled with flowering plants from spring till 

 late in the autumn. How unsightly, for instance, when, in the 

 conspicuous beds on a lawn, the hyacinths, tulips, anemones, 

 Phlox verna, and other early flowers, must stand till summer 

 before they can be transplanted without being spoiled ! If they 

 were growing in moss balls, they might be removed, without 

 injury, immediately after flowering, to make room for other 

 flowering plants. 



3. A more enlarged application to the culture of other early 

 vegetables, such as peas, gourds, the cabbage tribe, and 

 others. 



Acken, near Magdeburg, January 29. 1842. 



Art. V. On a Mode of procuring Sand for striking Cuttings. 



ByD. 



Having derived much information from the perusal of the 

 Gardener's Magazine, and as one good turn deserves another, I 

 have endeavoured to snatch a few minutes to communicate a 

 few remarks for the good of others, if good it may be to them. 

 I have at various times read with pleasure the methods of pro- 

 pagation which are there recorded, and most of them I have 

 tried ; but, as my own plan is more simple than most of them, 

 and equally successful, perhaps you will give it insertion. 



I have usually found that where cuttings could be kept re- 

 gularly moist, and at a temperature consistent with the nature of 

 the cuttings, together with a proper material to strike in, success 

 was nearly certain. Most people agree that sand is the best 

 material; but sand varies very much in different places, and I 

 have been so situated as to find it difficult to obtain at all. But 

 as necessity is the mother of invention, so it was with me, and 

 now, if I can obtain sand at all, I soon make it what I want. If 

 I cannot dig it or buy it, I can generally sweep it up after 

 a heavy shower. In the first place. I sift it through a sieve 



