FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
114 
or pans where they can have sufficient room for growth without being 
drawn up at all. At a more advanced stage they must be potted separately. 
Five-inch pots are sufficiently large until after their first flowering, when 
they must be carefully scrutinised. All plants that show inferiority to the 
parent form should be remorselessly consigned to the rubbish-heap, and 
only those that show an advance, or are at least as good, should be pre¬ 
served. These selected ones should be grown on as directed under the head 
of Cultivation below, and the stock increased by cuttings made at any 
time from shoots of firm substance; spring and late summer are, how¬ 
ever, the most profitable periods, for they then root more readily. The 
nurserymen not only use the shoots for this purpose, but also cut the 
more vigorous roots into pieces an inch or two long, and plunging them 
in pans of sand, with their tops just showing, keep them in a temperature 
of about 60°. The sand is merely kept from getting absolutely dry, and 
as soon as a couple of leaves appear the cuttings are potted singly, and 
accustomed to a lower temperature. In taking cuttings from shoots of 
most of the sorts, it will be found they are very juicy and have a 
tendency to bleed. It is, therefore, well to leave them lying on the 
potting-board for twenty-four hours, during which period the cut portion 
will dry up. The cuttings should be inserted in sandy soil, and arrange¬ 
ments should have been made previously to ensure the perfect drainage 
of pans or pots. If they exhibit a tendency to become tall, the top of 
the stem should be taken off, and they will then shoot lower down and 
become nice bushy plants. Cuttings of the varieties used for summer 
bedding should be planted in boxes of sandy soil, and placed in a sunny 
sheltered position in the open air, or in a light frame. They do not 
require much water until they show that they have rooted by starting 
into new growth. The cuttings of the show and fancy varieties are 
usually inserted in sandy soil in small thumb-pots, and placed on a shelf 
in a greenhouse till rooted. 
Cultivation. ^ sections of Pelargoniums will succeed in a 
compost, of which turfy loam is the predominating 
ingredient, with the addition of thoroughly decayed manure to the 
extent, say, of one-fourth of the whole, and a little sand. This should be 
well mixed some little time before it is required for use; and in potting, 
the plants should be firmly fixed. Abundant bloom is secured by 
stopping the most vigorous shoots, and under-potting. The fine regular 
form and dwarf habit, combined with profuse flowering, so noticeable in 
the pot-plants supplied by the professional growers, is attained by these 
means, and the training of the tender shoots before they have attained 
any firmness. This is especially a point to be aimed at in the production 
