July 26, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



77 



ment) wound into a coil of from 5 to 6 feet in length. This 

 coil was attached at one end of the tube to a saddle boiler, 

 while the other end of the tube communicated with the 4-inch 

 pipe which traversed the house. Over the coil I built a dome 

 of firebrick, leaving a small space for the flame to flicker 

 round the tube. This apparatus I placed horizontally inside 

 the house, the feeding door being on the outside. The flue at 

 the further end of the coil was carried up a few inches, and 

 then level over the whole of the apparatus, and then out of 

 the house immediately above the feeding door. Much to my 

 surprise I found that no heat passed out of this flue, the whole 

 having been exhausted by the water in the coil. The rapidity 

 with which this house is heated, and the email amount of fuel 

 consumed, is extraordinary. I am now about to have another 

 constructed on the same plan. — Observes. 



BOSE MDLLE. MAEIE FINGER. 



My friend Mr. Beachey asks if I have any eye to eolour. I 

 hope I know a Lily from a Psony, but perhaps I am colour 

 blind on certain occasions, and I must own that I have not 

 noticed any difference of shade in the colouring of Marie 

 Finger and Mdlle. Eugenie Verdier. My impression waB 

 that if any difference existed at all it was in form, not colour. 

 I rarely Bee Marie Finger bo globular as her twin sister, but I 

 am informed by Mr. Jowitt that (to my great surprise) Marie 

 Finger is superior in form to Eugenie Verdier. As Mr. 

 Beachey claims superiority in colour also, it shows that there 

 are two good rosarianB who make out that Marie Finger is the 

 better of the two. I have not grown the two side by side yet, 

 as I try and vary my colours as much as possible. 



Soil, in my experience, makes all the difference in colouring, 

 and perhaps Mr. Beachey's soil may suit that particular Rose 

 so well that he excels in growing it more than he does with 

 Eugenie Verdier. However, I willingly concede my opinion to 

 his, the more so as I look upon the RoBe as a great gain to the 

 lighter sorts. 



"The Herefordshire Incumbent" objects to Mr. Hinton 

 classing the three brothers — Ferdinand de Leeseps, Maurice 

 Bernardin, and Exposition de Brie — as the same Rose. Leav- 

 ing out the question of wood, I should much like to see how 

 my friend describes the difference between any two of the 

 three. 



I cordially concur with Mr. Hinton in his desire to leave the 

 Tea election for another season. His hands are quite full 

 enough already, and the great want this year is lists of the 

 best exhibition Roses, and given only by those growers who 

 have won a leading prize at the great shows of the last few 

 years. — Wild Savage. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



" Pacey " asks for information about the making and man- 

 agement of cuttings of Roses, Pinks, Carnations, Pansiep, 

 Rhododendrons, &a. A wise man is " Pacey ;" for that " &c," 

 although an abbreviation, is wonderfully inclusive, pointing in 

 this instance to all such plants as come within the Bcope of an 

 amateur who is the fortunate possessor of a really good little 

 garden. Gladly do I respond to his appeal now when so many 

 plants have growth in the beet possible condition for our pur- 

 pose, and when the temperature of the soil and air is bo warm 

 as to ensure success without artificial aid, other things being 

 equal. 



I always like to know the reason why a given practice is 

 adopted ; and " Pacey " evidently shares this feeling with me, 

 for he asks why he is advised to insert some cuttings in the 

 shade and to expose others to the full glare of the sun. Such 

 a question suggests that the first principles of the operation of 

 striking cuttings are not generally understood, and therefore 

 I cannot but be doing good service in showing what those 

 principles are. 



What, then, is a cutting ? In moBt instances it is the shoot 

 of a plant cut off when in full growth in a tender succulent 

 condition, and therefore quite certain to wither and die very 

 quickly if prompt measures are not taken to prevent the eva- 

 poration of its juices. Now the shoot of a Pelargonium is so 

 stout in texture and so abounds in succulent matter that 

 prompt insertion in moist soil, followed by a thorough BoakiDg 

 from the rose of a water pot, renders it perfectly safe for the 

 moment, although the border in which it is inserted is fully 

 exposed to the sun. It may afterwards be necessary to water 

 it twice a day, but it requires no shading excepting perhaps 



for the first two or three days, and that only if the weather is 

 exceptionally hot. But a Verbena shoot if thus exposed would 

 die ; nothing could save it, Bimply because its slender stem 

 and thin foliage lack the juicy stores and robust proportions 

 of the Pelargonium ; therefore we insert it in a shaded frame, 

 or, better still, under a low bell-glass, in order that the part 

 above the soil may be constantly enveloped with air that is 

 heavily laden with moisture. I am particularly anxious that 

 this should be set forth plainly, because when it is once under- 

 stood a host of contrivances will present themselves to an 

 ingenious mind. 



No hotbed is necessary at the present time. We may even 

 dispense with a frame, and by pressing a bell-glass firmly into 

 the soil inside the rim of our cutting pot we may with one 

 turn of the hand form a portable propagating house, which 

 alone or with hundreds of others may be placed for Bhade 

 behind a wall or hedge. I have even, when unable to meet 

 an immediate demand for small bell-glasses, purchased some 

 common half-pint tumblers, and very well remember my first 

 batch of Clematis cuttings was inserted under some of those 

 tumblers, the cuttings striking root freely without a single 

 failure. I am not now writing for the " great gardeners," but 

 for the especial good of the very numerous class who must 

 make Bhift with various and simple contrivances, and who 

 frequently do so to such good purpose as to obtain results that 

 are equal to those which one sometimes meets with in gardens 

 abounding in every facility of ways and means. 



Cuttings of Paneies and all the Viola tribe, with Pinks, 

 Carnations, and a host of kindred plants, are usually inserted 

 in a border at the foot of a north wall, sometimes under hand- 

 glasses, and failing them in the open border. This is done 

 because such cuttings emit roots freely in Buch a position. 

 Hand-glasses are certainly preferable, as they tend to promote 

 a more prompt and ready emission of roots, and also check 

 evaporation from which Carnations are apt to suffer. 



Roae cuttings should be made from stout shoots which have 

 borne flowers in the current season, as was explained in these 

 pages very lately. I used formerly to consider the protection 

 of a glazed frame necessary for them and have advised its use, 

 but subsequent experience has led me to discontinue it and to 

 insert the cuttings in an open border a little deeper in the soil 

 than when inserted in pots under glass. If due care is given 

 to this and to select Bhoots which are stout in growth and 

 firm in texture, I fail to see why all sorts of Roses may not be 

 raised from cuttings with the greatest ease. I know well that 

 there are very few sorts which fail to grow freely and well 

 upon their own roots when under really good culture. But the 

 Rose is a greedy plant, requiring liberal supplies of rich food, 

 and no half-and-half measures will answer in its treatment. 



It is not always that cuttings of bedding plants such as 

 Heliotropes, Verbenas, Petunias, Lantanas, Cupheas, and 

 Ageratums can be made so early in the season as could be 

 desired, nor is it always an easy matter to obtain a supply of 

 cuttings when the beds are crowded and the growth old and 

 hard. It is therefore good practice to plant a reserve plant or 

 two now in a cool border sheltered by a hedge or north wall, 

 solely with a view of providing a few stout cuttings for stock 

 later on. This method is especially applicable to Verbenas ; 

 and then if cool autumnal nights steal upon us before the cut- 

 tings are in we have only to make a slight bed of grass-mow- 

 ings and leaves whereon to place our frame or hand-glass, 

 under which we plunge our cutting pots to the rims in the bed, 

 and a supply of sturdy plants is quickly forthcoming. 



Rhododendrons are generally raised by sowing seed, by graft- 

 ing, and by layering. If "Pacey" wiBhes to increase the 

 number of any favourite sort he will probably best succeed by 

 pegging-down — layering — some of the lower branches 3 or 

 4 inches under the soil. I prefer doing this fully a month 

 earlier, just when the new growth appears, but it may be done 

 now onward to the autumn successfully. — Edward Luckhurst. 



TREES AND FLOWERS. 



Among the chief Bilent friends, comforters, and eheerers of 

 man are trees and flowers. I have sometimes asked myself, 

 Which gave me the more pleasure? Perhaps a reader will 

 answer readily, "Flowers." But think a moment. Time and 

 continuity are great tests of friendship, and these testa trees 

 will bear ; for flowers soon wither, die down, perish, but 

 trees are more conBtant — they abide by us always, they are 

 neighbours, I might almost say, for ever. 



Not only are trees with us in leafy June, one of the most 



