158 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENINfJ. 



for stock. For this purpose, square pans a foot 

 •square are test. These hold about three dozen 

 cuttings, and a half a dozen pans will produce an 

 inunense quantity of cuttings in spring. Like most 

 ■other succulent pknts, this gi-ows best in an open 

 and freely-drained soil, and the drainage of the pans 

 should therefore he well done, and if with the soil — 

 light loam and sand — a small proportion of finely- 

 broken potsherds and charcoal be mixed, there will 

 be less liability of the plants suffering from an. over- 

 dose of water during the winter. As soon as the 

 •cuttings are put in, a good watering will be neces- 

 sary, but no more should be given till the soil seems 

 really dry, or is observed to be cracking from the 

 sides of the pans. They never fail to strike if placed 

 on a shelf over hot-water pipes, no shading or 

 propagating-glass being needed. They wiU winter 

 satisfactorily in any light position and in a green- 

 house temperature. In February they must be put 

 into heat, and cuttings may be taken as soon as to be 

 had of a couple of inches in length. At this season 

 they strike most readily under glasses in bottom 

 heat, in the same manner as most other soft- wooded 

 plants, and as soon as struck must be transplanted 

 into boxes or pins, and kept in heat till they have 

 recovered from the check of removal ; afterwards 

 cool houses and pits, coupled with careful watering, 

 will keep them in slow but vigorous growth. 



Roots and Tubers. — Single varieties of Dahlias 

 have lately become so popular, that they must have 

 the first place on the list under this heading. The 

 mania for them still spreads, and the consequent e^vil 

 is already apparent, -yiz., that of sending out innu- 

 merable varieties which are different only in name. 

 It would be well if growers would content them- 

 selves -with half a dozen kinds, and gi-ow that number 

 well in groups and masses for distant effect,' or alter- 

 nate, as to colour, in mixed flower bordeis. They 

 are most readily raised from seeds, which ought to be 

 so^wn in heat in February, then good plants may be 

 had for planting out in June, and will be in full 

 flower by the beginning of August. Sow in pans of 

 light loam, covering the seeds thinly with sand, 

 water, and place them in the propagating-pit. As 

 soon as germination takes place the pans should be 

 shifted nearer the glass, say a shelf in a plant-stove, 

 pine-pit, or a •vinery that is being forced ; here they 

 may remain, being well supplied •with water, tiU the 

 plants are large enough to be potted singly into 

 thumb-pots, to be gro^wn on as rapidly as is possible 

 so long as the gro-srth continues of a robust de- 

 •scription. Five-inch pots will be none too large for 

 •the second potting, which will be needed at the end 

 •of April, or early in May. Named Hnds can only 

 be had true from cuttings. Stock-roots placed in a 



bottom heat of 65° in February or March wiU a2ord 

 cuttings within three weeks. Sever them from the 

 old root with a bit of it adhering, and put them in 

 thumb-pots, plunge in bottom heat, keep moist and 

 shade. The cuttings should never be allowed to flag, 

 or the chances are that they will .fail to strike, or if 

 this does not happen they will be double the time in 

 striking which those are that do not flag. As soon as 

 rooted, treat them exactly the same as ad^vised for 

 seedlings. The double or show kinds can only be had 

 from cuttings, and are propagated in the same way. 



Cannas. — These are about the most stately of 

 foliage bedders, and their culture and propagation 

 being of the simplest description, admits of no excuse 

 for their not being used in quantity. Old roots can 

 be wintered in any out-of-the-way shed or cellar, 

 light or dark is quite immaterial, so long as there is 

 freedom from frost. If Hf ted with soil adhering, none 

 other is needed; but if bare, they may be roughly 

 heeled in, packed closely together in any kiad of 

 soil, sawdust, or cocoa fibre ; and in this foim they 

 may remain till the end of Apiil, except such roots 

 as are needed for increase of «tock; these may be 

 brought out and parted into single crowns, and be 

 potted in such sized pots as the size of crown demands. 

 TiU new roots have 'begun to work in the fresh soil 

 there •will be little top growth ; therefore, the plants 

 may stand in any out-of-the-way place, under stages 

 or trellises, without inj ury accruing to them ; but once 

 top grcsth has started, light and gentle warmth must 

 be afforded, else the gi-owth •will be of an attenuated 

 nature, and get crippled as soon as turned outside. 

 Seeds so^wn in January in strong bottom heat make 

 good plants by bedding-out time ; but they •will not 

 compare in vigour with the strong crowns that are 

 taken from old stools five or six weeks later. 



Salvia patens, Verbena 'aenosa, Perennial Lobelias, 

 and Marvel of Peru, are all of them indispensable in 

 summer bedding ; indeed they may be called every- 

 body's plants, as they are easy to grow and increase, 

 and above all to winter, which they do safely in any 

 place from which frost is excluded. The roots of 

 the Salvia, and Marvel of Peru, only require to be 

 surrounded with any kind of rough soil, to prevent 

 the shrinking of the tubers. The roots may be 

 divided for increase of stock any time during the 

 month of March ; boxes are the most convenient for 

 planting them in, and with cold-frame treatment 

 afterwards, they •will make good plants hj bedding- 

 out time. Verbena venosa generallj' winters well in 

 the open ground, but the flowers do not come so fine, 

 or the growth so regular and robust, as when the 

 roots are lifted annually, and covered thickly with 

 dry soil during the winter, and are propagated 

 afresh in April by cutting up the most flashy parts 



