PROPAGATION AND TREATMENT. 



95 



a reference to Loudon's Hortus Britannicns, and also the period at 

 which the cuttings are planted, will sufficiently indicate. The following 

 routine we have been satisfied with following, ^iz., in August, at which 

 period the earlier flowering kinds will have done flowering, the plants are 

 cut down to within one or two eyes, if we may so speak ; but which will 

 be more intelligible if we say to within from an inch to half an inch of 

 where the shoot spmng from. The shoots so taken ofl*, a,re made into 

 cuttings about six inches long, and cut close off below a joint, but the 

 leaves should be left on, and not reduced in size, as is too often done. 

 Each cutting is then planted in a pot of the size called large thumbs, and 

 which ai'e about two inches in diameter. They are then well watered, 

 and plunged into a moderate hot-bed, kept close and well shaded, till 

 they have begun to take root, when air is gradually admitted to them. 

 The only care necessary dming this part of theii' culture is to pick off 

 all decayed leaves, to prevent the cuttings fi'om rotting, to keep the tem- 

 perature steady, but not too high, and above ail to keep them shaded. In 

 foiu" or five weeks, cuttings so treated will requh'e to be shifted into larger 

 pots of the size knovra as thiity-twos, after which the plants may be 

 placed in a cool, airy pit, or frame, but kept close to the glass to prevent 

 their being drawn up weak and tail ; or they may at once be aiTanged in 

 the Geranium house. Plants so ti'eated will flower in March if they are 

 removed to the Geranium house before the setting in of severe frost. 



In September, another set of cuttings shoidd be put in, of the sorts that 

 go out of flower at that period ; these ^-ill flower in ^>Iay, and a thu'd set 

 of cuttings should be put in, in Januaiy, which will flower from May to 

 July ; and a fouith and last set in ^larch, which will produce plants that, 

 if kept cool dming summer, and brought into the Geranium house in Sep- 

 tember, will bloom dm'ing October, November, andpait of December. 



The tuberous-rooted sorts are much less generally cultivated now than 

 formerly, their flowers bearing no comparison to those of the half-shrubby 

 kinds. Such may, hovrever, be readily increased by planting pieces of 

 the roots in small pots, in a shght heat ; leaving a small poition of the top 

 of the root above ground. 



On tliis subject, the following rational remarks are from the pen of Mr. 

 Appleby, in a communication in .the Horticidtiu'al Cabinet, Vol. V. p. 9. 



" Dming the grovring season, they require watering pretty freely ; but 

 as soon as they have done flowering, and their leaves begin to tmn yellow, 

 decrease the quantity of water gradually ; the best method to do this, wiU 

 be to water once in three days, then once a week, then once a fortnight, 

 and lastly, once a month : by which time they will be completely at rest. 



