350 



HAEDY FKUIT GAEDEN. 



to the size of the case, and that hermetically 

 closed. We have known them so sent from 

 Edinburgh to Vienna ; and further, Dr Falconer, 

 in reference to deciduous cuttings, directs that 

 they be cut early in November, choosing oldish 

 and firm wood, with the greatest number of 

 buds; cover their ends with wax, and roll them 

 up separately in cotton ; make them up in 

 bundles of from six to ten cuttings in each, and 

 envelop them again in cotton covered with 

 paper, and finish with a wrapper of stout silk or 

 cloth, coated on the inside with India-rubber in 

 the liquid or adhesive state, so that the side and 

 end folds may adhere together for the exclusion 

 of both air and wet. In this way Professor Bal- 

 four states, in " Class Book of Botany," p. 658, 

 " slips have been sent to Saharunpoor via Bom- 

 bay (a distance of 7000 miles from Falmouth), 

 in a state fit for planting when transmitted, in 

 less than two months; and cuttings to be 

 grafted will continue good double that period. 

 Sometimes ringing is had recourse to, in the 

 case of cuttings of plants which are difficult to 

 strike. The interruption of the sap caused by 

 this process has the effect of forming a callosity, 

 which, if inserted in the ground after being 

 separated from the plant, sends out roots freely. 

 Piping is a species of propagation differing 

 not in principle from striking by cuttings. It 

 is applied to pinks, carnations, and similar her- 

 baceous plants having jointed or tubular stems. 

 Pipings should be put in as early as they can be 

 got fit for the purpose, that the plants may be- 

 come strong before winter, which in England is 

 about the endof May or beginning of June. They 

 are taken from the young shoots of the current 

 year's growth. The lower leaves, in the case of 

 pinks, are stripped off to within two or three 

 joints of th^ top of the cutting. The lower part is 

 cut off, close under a joint, with a clean and sharp 

 knife. " When prepared, throw them into a pan 

 of water, for from five to seven minutes, to 

 stiffen. The piping-bed being ready, press them 

 into the soil about three quarters of an inch, 

 and the same distance apart : give a good sprink- 

 ling of water, and as soon as the foliage is dry 

 put the glasses over them. In about three 

 weeks they will have rooted : at this period the 

 glasses may be removed by degrees, first lifting 

 them half an inch on one side for a day or two, 

 and then all around; about the fourth day they 

 may be taken off. Pinks will root as freely 

 under a north wall as anywhere, and require 

 less attention in shading when in such a situa- 

 tion. Prepare a layer of spit dung, let it be put 

 together thoroughly wet, and beat down with a 

 spade to a level surface : if 8 inches deep, it 

 vvill be quite sufficient to keep the worms from 

 disturbing the young plants. On this must be 

 placed the compost for the plants to root in, 

 3 inches deep. This should also be in a moist 

 state, but not wet, and be moderately pressed 

 to a smooth surface. The compost for the pur- 

 pose must be of a sandy quality — leaf-mould 

 or decayed vegetable mould, and silver sand 

 sifted fine, equal parts of each. In the absence 

 of the above, any sweet and sandy soU, pro- 

 portioned as above, will answer ; but we give 

 the preference to leaf-mould from its cool 



and retentive nature. 

 Florist. 



'—Mr Neville m Beck's 



PIPINGS OF CARNATIONS. 



This may be 

 considered the 

 English practice. 

 In the north, 

 where the growth 

 is later, slight 

 bottom - heat is 

 often required to 

 make up by slight 

 excitement what 

 we want in 

 warmth of climate 

 and time to secure 

 strong plants be- 

 fore the season 

 of growth termi- 

 nates. The best 

 florists have long 

 abandoned the 

 absurd practice 

 of shortening the leaves of their pipings, and 

 prepare them as shown, fig. 124, a ; b exhibits 

 the mutilated piping of bygone times. 



Propagation by cuttings of the root. — Many 

 plants may be multiplied by cuttings of the roots, 

 instead of the more usual way of using portions 

 of the branches or young shoots. Mr Knight 

 has shown that the energies of a variety, artifi- 

 cially produced (a hybrid), exist longer in the 

 system of the root than in that of the stem ; so 

 that it is more expedient to employ the roots of 

 old varieties of fruit trees for cuttings than to 

 use the stems. Many rare trees, shrubs, and 

 plants are propagated by this means, and excel- 

 lent thorn-hedges are formed by planting cut- 

 tings of the roots — that is, pieces of them about 

 a foot in length; and even chips, having some 

 portion of the bark on them, of the poplar, if 

 planted, will produce trees. In both cases ad- 

 ventitious buds exist, and these, when called 

 into action, form the future plants. Horse- 

 radish, sea-kale, &o., if their roots be cut into 

 pieces of only a few inches in length, and laid 

 horizontally in the soil and slightly covered, 

 will form roots at the one end and leaves at the 

 other. The Moutan paeony is most suocessfiiUy 

 multiplied by cuttings of the roots. The com- 

 mon plum-trees and Pyrus japonica are readily 

 propagated in a similar manner, plums having an 

 extraordinary power of forming buds on their 

 roots. That beautiful and not long introduced 

 plant, Anemone japonica, has this property in an 

 eminent degree all over the surface of its roots, 

 so that they may be chopped into very small 

 pieces, yet each of these is capable of forming 

 a new plant. And amongst the equally inte- 

 resting family of CEnothera the two species 

 (E. macrocarpa and (E. ccespitosa are scarcely, 

 excepting by seed, capable of being otherwise 

 multiplied. Acacia puhescens amongst green- 

 house plants, and some of the Ardisias, Olero- 

 dendrons, Dracoemas, &c., amongst stove plants, 

 are only by this means increased with certainty. 

 Cuttings of the flower-stems are found to be the 

 best mode of propagating the double-flowering 

 varieties of the scarlet lychnis, double rockets, 

 and many similar border-plants ; these, if cut 



