Augnst 30, 1864,] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



167 



to turn out in a forward state, do not do well at the time 

 of striking, and in the following season in beds, unless 

 they are put in as cuttings by the middle of September at 

 the latest, and this is fully a fortnight later than they 

 ought to be. Stella and Baron Rieasoli, two of the best of 

 the Nosegays for bedding purposes, I like struck in August, 

 and also the variegated kinds, not in clusters in pots, pans, 

 or boxes, but singly in 60-sized pots in the first instance, 

 transferring them to 48's before October ; in these they are 

 wintered, potted into 32's in the first week in March, and 

 where there is frame room let them have another shift into 

 24' s in the middle of April, by which time they will be in 

 fine condition, and seldom " look behind them " again. The 

 stronger and hardier sorts we need not be so particular 

 about, for they will strike if inserted any time in September, 

 and tolerably well if put in before frosts cut them off in Oc- 

 tober. In fact, the time of striking Geranium cuttings 

 depends greatly on the period at which the plants are wanted 

 to bloom in the following season. If an early bloom is desired 

 — say in July and August, the variegated and smaller growers 

 should be inserted in August, about the middle of the month, 

 and the stronger-growing Scarlets about a fortnight after- 

 wards. Then for a late bloom the variegated and smaller 

 sorts of Scarlets will do inserted any time before the middle 

 of September, and the stronger kinds about a fortnight or 

 three weeks later. Such furnish plants for blooming effec- 

 tively in August and September. I have occasionally made 

 up in the beginning of September a dung hotbed, about 

 2 feet high, consisting of well-fermented dung, covered it 

 with a two-light frame, and in a week or ten days put on a 

 few inches of pit sand, and placed on this the pots of cut- 

 tings. With a mild heat of 75°, and a slight shading from 

 hot sun, I had cuttings struck in ten days or a fortnight, 

 and quite as forward as if they had been struck in August 

 without heat. This was done chiefly because the old plants 

 did not furnish a supply of cuttings sufficiently early for 

 cool propagation in August, and also because taking a large 

 number of cuttings would have detracted from the effect at 

 that time. 



In whatever manner the stock of Geraniums may have 

 been struck in the autumn, they should be potted by the 

 last week in February or beginning of March from the pots, 

 pans, or boxes in which they were kept through the winter, 

 selecting for the purpose the size usually known as 32's, 

 and employing a compost of turfy loam two-thirds and leaf 

 mould one-third, with a liberal admixture of sharp sand. 

 This compost will grow almost any kind of Geranium well. 

 By placing- a few crocks at the bottom of the pot, and some 

 of the rougher parts of the compost upon them, the necessity 

 of employing a larger amount of crocks will be obviated, 

 and equally efficient drainage will be secured. The plants 

 should be taken up with a .small ball if practicable, and 

 potted rather firmly. After potting give a gentle watering, 

 and place in a vinery or any house where forcing is just 

 commenced. The slight increase of heat and the moist 

 atmosphere will cause the plants to become quickly esta- 

 blished, and they will grow rapidly. Those not 'having 

 vineries and whole ranges of pits need not pot-off the plants 

 from the cutting-pots so early, but may defer it until the 

 beginning of April. 



The plants being potted, and placed in the beginning of 

 March in an increased heat of 45° or 50° by night, they will 

 be stout plants by the middle or end of April, and bushy if 

 due care has been taken to pinch or cut back any that 

 exhibit signs of tall lanky growth; the shoots thus cut 

 back if made into cuttings will root quickly, and will make 

 nice, though small, plants by bedding-out time. Some cut- 

 tings will grow up with a single stem, and attain a tree-like 

 height before they branch, such should be stopped at the 

 fourth leaf above the soil, and this will cause side shoots to 

 be emitted. It is a good practice to stop the shoots of those 

 plants requiring it about a fortnight after potting. By the 

 middle or latter part of April the house, especially if a vinery, 

 will be too warm and too much shaded for Geraniums, and 

 they not only grow too fast, become long-jointed, and drawn 

 up weak, but are liable to receive a check from which they 

 rarely recover before June. This check is consequent on 

 removing them from a shaded, warm, and damp atmosphere 

 to a lighter, cooler, and drier position. Although there is no 

 better place for wintering Geraniums and forwarding them 



in the spring than a vinery, the Vines of which are annually 

 started in the beginning of March, yet a worse place could 

 not be found for them after the middle of April. A cooler 

 place is much more suitable, such as cold pits, Peach- 

 cases against walls, or between the pots in orchard-houses. 

 Cold pits or frames, however, are the best places, for it is 

 undesirable to encumber fruit-houses with Geraniums; be- 

 sides, when houses are used for a variety of purposes the 

 cultivator in his endeavours to suit everything is unable to 

 give proper treatment to anything. With cheap glass a 

 house specially devoted to bedding plants would not be 

 costly, and would to a great extent obviate the necessity of 

 wintering them in vineries and keeping them there until 

 they are almost spoilt. 



Having the plants in a flourishing condition in 32-sized 

 pots by the middle of April, place them in any light, airy 

 description of house from which frost is excluded, but no 

 artificial heat given. If it is desirable to increase the size 

 of the plants they may be potted in 24's in ten days or a 

 fortnight after having been removed into the cool-house, pit, 

 or frame. In this situation they will require copious siipplies 

 of water, but none should be given until it is needed, yet the 

 plants should not be allowed to droop, or the leaves will be 

 prematurely thrown off. A dry atmosphere is likewise 

 adverse to the healthy development of the foliage. If the 

 plants are in frames or pits the lights should be covered 

 with mats whenever there is a likelihood of frost before 

 morning, and in addition to water at the root, a gentle 

 watering overhead night and morning will do much towards 

 insuring good plants. Abundance of fresh air, indeed full ex- 

 posure to the sun, is of paramount importance, for, unless 

 the plants are capable of enduring this before planting- 

 out, they will cause nothing but disappointment for some 

 time afterwards, in consequence of their yellow appear- 

 ance, and arrested growth. They should, therefore be ex- 

 posed to the atmosphere for some time previous to planting 

 out, and be in no wise affected by cold, sun, and dry 

 air. Thus duly inured to light, &c, the plants will require 

 more room by the last week in May, or beginning of June, 

 and should then be planted out in the beds. These should 

 have been dug deeply in autumn, a liberal amount of 

 vegetable matter worked into the soil, and be again forked 

 over a few days before planting. 



With regard to planting Geraniums, some think them best 

 plunged in the pots, whilst others say they should be planted 

 out. I have no doubt that according to circumstances the 

 advocates of both systems are right, but it happens that 

 what will answer in one place will not do at another. Where 

 the soil is light, dry, and but moderately rich, the plants 

 are best planted out, for the very nature of the soil acts as 

 a sort of check to over-luxuriance, and they are, therefore, 

 prolific in bloom and foliage ; but in rich, moist soils, which 

 have a tendency to stimulate the plants into growth without 

 giving a corresponding amount of bloom, keeping them in* 

 pots acts as a check to over-luxuriance, and they grow less, 

 but bloom more profusely, if plunged instead of planted out. 

 Seasons also exert an influence in this way. In wet seasons 

 the plants are best in pots, whilst during a dry season such 

 as the present, we would find them in much the same con- 

 dition when we took them up in the autumn as when we 

 plunged them in the pots in May and June, unless they 

 were daily watered. It is admitted by all, that close plant- 

 ing is preferable to thin, for whilst plants treated in the 

 latter way afford but a poor and late return, the others are 

 covered with an early and effective bloom. — G. Abbey. 

 (To be continued.') 



EXPERIENCES OF A COUNTRY PARSON. 



Theke is this advantage in writing the name and address 

 at the end of an article — viz., the public can go to the garden 

 and see " if these things are so." Moreover, it is a security 

 against wilful misdirection. 



On four following days these distinguished persons came 

 to review things here — namely, Mr. Kelway, jun., nursery- 

 man, of Langport, Somerset ; H. Davis, Esq., Warminster ; 

 H. C. Sturt, Esq., of Critehill ; and J. Hanes Calcraft, Esq., 

 of Rempstone, near Wareham ; and the Provost of Eton 

 with Mrs. Farquharson and party. They all said they never 



