’ 
August 15, 1878, ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. — 121 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day Average | Ciock | Day 
f 52 78. St Sun Moon | Moon | Moon’s fi 2 
ucts AUGUST 15—21, 1878 HEGSRAES: near | Rises: | Sets Rises Sets. |“ Age: igor wk 
} 
Day. Night. Mean.| h. m.| h. m.| h. m.} h. m | Days. | Mm. s. 
TH Shrewsbury Show closes. 73.0 0.1 | 61.6 | 4 47 |} 7 21 7 55 (OE Day 4 18} 227 
EF 73.2 a 5 62.8 4 49 eels) 8 6 8 32) 18 4 6 | 228 
s 73.1 | 50.4 | 61.7 4 50} 7 17 8 18 9 41 | 19 3 53 | 229 
SUN | 9 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 73.3 | 51.6 | 62.5 4 52) 7 16] 8 32} 10 51 20 3 40 | 230 
2 : 70.3 | 51.6 | 62.3 4 53| 7 14] 8 50} Oa3 21 3 27 | 231 
TU Royal Horticultural Society—Fruit and Floral Com- | 72.5 | 50.8 | 62.6 4 55) 7 12 9 14] 1 15 22 3 13 | 232 
W Burton-on-Trent Show. [ mittees at 11 A.M. | 72.4 | 49.7 | 61.0 | 4 57|/ 7 9] 9 47 | 2 27 r¢ 2 58 | 233 
From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 
72.5° ; and its night temperature 
AUTUMN PROPAGATION OF BEDDING PLANTS. 
aequied the autumn propagation of ite aun 
for the following season always requires con- 
siderable attention at this time of the year. 
Provided good cuttings can be had they 
should be inserted as soon after the beginning 
of August as possible, and the whole should 
be finished by the end of this month at the 
latest to give the young plants a fair chance of 
wintering well. In a good autumn many kinds of 
cuttings will root freely and establish themselves 
during September, but this cannot always be depended 
We generally begin our autumn propagation about the 
on. 
12th of August, and finish it all by the end of the month. 
During September the cuttings form plenty of roots, and at 
the same time they are fully exposed to the sun and air to 
@harden them so as to withstand the winter without injury. 
Some people prefer lifting and keeping old plants through- 
out the winter to propagating young plants: especially is 
this the case with Geraniums, but half a dozen old plants 
are not worth two autumn-rooted cuttings the following 
spring, as the old plants are always scraggy and rough- 
looking ; and although they bloom well for a time the 
following season I have found they do not bloom so long 
as healthy young growing plants. Unless it is some kind 
we are very scarce of we never keep an old bedding Gera- 
nium over the winter, but we propagate considerable quan- 
tities of young plants. We root and winter them all in boxes 
24 feet long, 14 inches wide, and 3 inches deep. About 
a dozen holes are bored in the bottom of each box, a crock 
is placed over each of them, a little rough mushroom dung 
is placed over the whole, and then the box is filled up 
nearly level with a mixture of loam, sand, and leaf soil, or 
mushroom dung in a half-decayed state. Fifty cuttings are 
placed in each of the boxes, and at this rate the space 
required to winter boxes containing two or three thousand 
cuttings is small indeed. As soon as the cuttings are in- 
serted the boxes are watered and stood at once in the 
open air fully exposed to the sun. Here they remain until 
early winter rains or frost demand their removal under 
glass, then they are shifted into a cool house, such as a 
vinery with the fruit newly cut, and no artificial heat is 
applied to them unless it is actually necessary. When they 
are shifted it is on a dry day, when the leaves are quite 
dry, and during the winter they-are watered without ever 
damping the leaves. Treated like this we do not lose one 
per cent. of them during the winter. 
But to return. In taking off the cuttings care should be 
taken not to disfigure the plants any more tham can be 
avoided. The cuttings must not be all taken from one 
spot, but select them here and there over the whole bed, so 
as just to thin out the tallest of the shoots. No Geranium 
~ should be much longer than 8 inches or shorter than 6 inches. 
Where Geraniums are growing thickly many growths that 
look as if they would make good cuttings will be found 
close to the base of the plants out of sight of the surface 
altogether. Some might be inclined to select these as cut- 
NO. 907.—VOL. XXXYV., NEW SERIES. 
tings, as in taking them they would never be missed or 
distigure the bed; but these undergrowths do not make 
good rooting cuttings, as they are too “tender. Hardy points 
are the kind of cuttings to which preference should always 
be given, and this not only applies to Geraniums but to all 
other plants. In making Geranium cuttings it serves no 
good purpose to leave a lot of leaves on the points, as they 
only decay before the cuttings are rooted, and very often 
cause the cuttings to decay. All the leaves should be 
taken off but two or three of the very youngest at the 
points. These will grow into large leaves and form the 
principal part of the plants during the winter. When 
Geranium cuttings have been in about a fortnight they 
should be gone over, and all the dead and decaying leaves 
taken from amongst them. This operation must be repeated 
again when necessary. In dry weather, when the plants 
are beginning to root, they must be liberally supplied with 
water. 
We do not strike Verbenas in boxes, but they are put 
closely together in 6 and 8-inch pots amongst a mixture of 
leaf soil, a little loam, and plenty of silver “sand. As soon 
as they are inserted the pots are placed in a cold frame, 
and until they are rooted little or no air is admitted. On 
hot afternoons they are syringed and on sunny days they 
are shaded, but this is only until they are rooted, and after 
that air and sun is admitted in abundance to harden them 
off for the winter. Ivesines, Alternantheras, Coleuses, and 
everything of this kind are rooted in the same way, and the 
results are always satisfactory. 
None of the last-named plants are propagated in large 
quantities at the present time, as a hundred plants in spring 
will give two or three thousand cuttings. 
The variegated Alyssum is another most effective plant 
that has risen very high in our estimation this season which 
requires to be rooted like Verbenas. 
It is time enough to put in cuttings of Calceolarias by the 
middle of September, and then they need only be dibbled 
thickly in a cold frame. Pansies and Violas should be done 
in the same way; and when they are covered over with glass 
while they are rooting it should be removed immediately 
they commence growing, and they do best when they are 
aired very freely ¢ during 1 the winter. —A KircHEN GARDENER. 
HARDY PERENNIALS. 
SIGNS are not wanting that hardy perennials are gaining 
favour, slowly it is true, but surely, and it is certain that 
when next they do get a firm hold of our hearts and gardens 
they will become a permanent feature. Let no one suppose 
that because they are hardy they require less attention than 
tender plants, for the very reverse is the case, and it is ina 
great measure this very demand for attention which endears 
them to the enthusiastic grower, as it forces him to know 
them better and to become more acquainted with their in- 
dividual peculiarities. There are certainly many beautiful 
things among them which will take care of themselves, and 
such as will do so are perhaps seen to the best advantage 
when allowed to assume a semi-natural habit by the margin 
of shrubberies, lakes, or whatever position seems to suit them 
No. 1559.—Vou. LX., OLD SERIES. 
