58 



CASSELL'S POPULAK GARDENING. 



unprotected even in winter, if the soil is light and 

 well drained. 



C. Weedii is the same plant as that illustrated in the 

 Botanical Magazine as C. citrinus. It is a very beau- 

 tiful plant, in the way of luteus, having large, deep 

 yellow petals, dotted and margined with purple. It 

 may be purchased in bulb nurseries, but is not yet 

 plentiful. A nearly-allied species, also in cultivation, 

 is C. Kennedy i. It is a stronger-growing plant than 

 Weedii, and has reddish- orange flowers, blotched at 

 the base of the petals with purple. 



PEOPAGATION. 



By W. Watson. 



CUTTINGS {continued). 

 Bedding - plants. — The herbaceous character 

 and free-growing nature of the majority of plants 

 that are used for summer bedding out of doors, 

 renders their propagation easy. Large numbers of 

 plants are required in as short a time as possible, and 

 without the expenditure of much time or labour, and 

 unless a plant is easily propagated, it is of little 

 value in the bedding department. Autumn propa- 

 gation is preferred for the more robust of these plants, 

 cuttings at that time being both plentiful and vigo- 

 rous, and the season favourable for the quick pro- 

 duction of roots. If the necessary preparation of 

 beds, boxes, frames, and soil has been attended to, 

 the whole of the cuttings may be got in during 

 August and rooted before the approach of cold 

 weather. It may be laid down as a general rule, 

 that all stout, free-growing cuttings prefer a strong 

 loamy soil, whilst those of a more delicate nature, 

 and that have fewer roots, are safest when planted in 

 light sandy soil, containing a large proportion of 

 leaf-mould. Zonal Pelargoniums strike freely at 

 this time of the year, if sturdy, ripe cuttings are 

 placed in beds of light sandy soil, in a semi- 

 sheltered situation. These cuttings should be 

 planted firmly, in rows about six inches apart, and 

 should receive a good watering as soon as planted, 

 after which they will require little attention beyond 

 the removal of dead leaves and a sprinkling of water 

 overhead, should the weather be dry. As soon as 

 rooted, or at least before the approach of cold, wet 

 weather, they should be placed in the boxes, pans, 

 or pots in which they are to winter. For smaller 

 quantities it will be found best to plant the cut- 

 tings in shallow boxes, in which they may be allowed 

 to remain until the spring. Calceolarias are gene- 

 rally propagated by means of cuttings placed in 

 frames, the soil in which is made up of equal por- 

 tions of sand, loam, and leaf-mould, and in these 



frames they are allowed to remain until the spring, 

 protection from severe frost being given by means 

 of mats or straw. 



Pansies, Pentstemons, Phloxes, Pinks, Antirrhi- 

 nums, and a host of other bedding -plants of robust 

 constitution, may be increased in the autumn in the 

 above way. Boxes thirty inches long, by twelve 

 inches wide, and four inches deep, are most con- 

 venient for these purposes. The bottom should be 

 pierced with several holes, an inch or more in 

 diameter, and covered with an inch of ashes or crocks 

 as drainage, the box being then filled up with sandy 

 soil, using loam, leaf -mould, or whatever mixture the 

 nature of the cuttings would require. This subject 

 and that of the next paragraph have been treated in 

 practical detail in Mr. AVildsmith's articles upon 

 The Flower Garden. 



Carnations and Picotees. — Where a quan- 

 tity of these plants are required for use in common 

 bedding, cuttings should be selected in the autumn, 

 and planted in glazed boxes in sandy loam. The 

 portions of the plant most fitted to be chosen as cut- 

 tings are the lower lateral shoots, from four inches 

 to six inches in length, which should be pulled 

 rather than cut away from the leading shoot, so that 

 a portion of the ripened wood will remain to form a 

 " heel," which in these plants insures safety in 

 rooting. Plant the cuttings firmly, and keep them 

 almost air-tight until they have rooted. If a posi- 

 tion on a warm border is chosen, where only during 

 a few hours in the middle of the day the sun would 

 not shine upon the boxes, the percentage of rooted 

 plants would be large. 



A host of herbaceous plants much used in mixed 

 beds or borders, or the front rows in the shrubbery ? 

 may be rooted thus, and a good stock of sturdy 

 little plants be got in readiness for spring planting. 



Dahlias. — Many of the single kinds of Dahlia 

 are raised from seeds sown in the spring, but for the 

 multiplication of named kinds, and also for the 

 double varieties, either division of the roots is re- 

 sorted to, or, if a number of each be required, cut* 

 tings are procured by treating the old stools as 

 follows :— Early in February or March, the old 

 tuberous roots that were lifted in the autumn and 

 stored in frost-proof quarters should be examined, and 

 a selection made of the kinds of which young plants 

 are required. Prepare a bed in a warm house or 

 propagating-pit, a position under the stage in a 

 stove being, perhaps, the most suitable. Any soil, 

 or even cocoa-nut fibre, will answer to plant the 

 Dahlia-roots in, all that is required being sufficient 

 depth to cover the tubers, and to afford a little 

 nourishment to the new growth. From the base of 



