Horticulture'. 



330 



[April, 1912. 



a liberal addition of river sand, finely 

 sifted. Replace them on the shelf, and 

 shade for a time from the hot sunshine. 

 The seedlings will soon fill these small 

 pots with roots. They must then be 

 re-potted into larger-sized pots, and 

 subsequently be treated in the same 

 way as those which have been propagated 

 by cuttings. Keep them close to the 

 glass, and give them abundance of air 

 on all favourable occasions. As soon as 

 the weather will permit, place them out 

 of doors, upon a bed of ashes of sufficient 

 thickness to prevent worms from enter- 

 ing the pots. The situation should be 

 an open one, the grand object being to 

 ripen the wood and induce a stocky or 

 bushy habit, so as to ensure their flower- 

 ing the following season. The size of 

 pots to flower them in need not be more 

 than 4£ in. When there is a fear of 

 autumnal frosts, remove them into the 

 greenhouse, and place them on a shelf at 

 such a distance from the glass as will 

 serve to keep them dwarf and bushy. 

 There is no need to top them in the 

 manner hereinafter recommended for 

 plants raised from cuttings, the object 

 being not to raise fine specimens, but 

 to get them to flower as quickly as possi- 

 ble in the following spring. 



By Cuttings. 

 Cuttings may be put in and struck from 

 July to September. The general time, 

 however, is when the plants have done 

 flowering and require cutting down to 

 make bushy plants for the next season. 

 The best place to strike the cuttings is 

 in the bush house in a frame set on a 

 spent hot bed, removing the soil and 

 substituting a thick coat of cool ashes, 

 and over this a bed of dry sawdust in 

 which to plunge the cutting pots. This 

 dry sawdust serves to absorb the 

 moisture in the pots and the necessary 

 waterings. The best soil is pure loam 

 mixed with silver sand. The most suit- 

 able pot is one 5 in. wide at the top, 

 The pots must be well drained with pot- 

 sherds, and filled to the top with the 

 prepared loam ; it should not be pressed 

 down too hard, but made firm enoagh to 

 hold the cuttings fast. Another point is 

 to use it in a state neither wet nor dry. 



The side shoots which have not flowered 

 make the best cuttings. These should be 

 cut off close to the stem. Cut off the 

 bottom leaves of the cutting close to the 

 stem, leaving only two of the uppermost. 

 Place the cutting in a shady place for 

 about an hour to dry up the wound. 

 Then put them in the prepared pots 

 round the edge, inclining the leaves 

 inward. When a pot is filled, give it 

 a gentle watering. Then plunge the pots 

 into the frame, and shade them from 

 the sun or even from light. Reduce 

 the shade very gradually. The temper- 

 ature should not much exceed 60 degrees 

 Pahr. As soon as the roots are 1 in, 

 long pot them off immediately into 

 the smallest 60-pots, which are generally 

 about 2 in. in diameter. A small addi- 

 tion of well-decomposed leaf-mould may 

 with advantage be mixed with the loam. 

 When they are finished potting off, 

 give another gentle watering and replace 

 them in the bush-house until fresh roots 

 are formed. Renew the shading, but 

 disuse it as soon as it is safe to do so, 

 and then give plenty of air (if in the 

 propagating house) to prevent the plants 

 being drawn up and becoming spindly. 

 To cause them to become bushy plants 

 furnished with branches close to the 

 pots, nip off the top bud ; the lower 

 side buds will then break and push 

 forth, and these must be again stopped 

 as soon as they have made thin leaves. 

 The plants will then be ready to receive 

 a second potting, and should be removed 

 into the open air. 



The above remarks and directions, so 

 far as cuttings are concerned, relate 

 only to the so-called show varieties. 

 There is another class of pelargoniums 

 which are designated fancy varieties. 

 These are more difficult to increase by 

 cuttings. Place the cuttings in shallow 

 pans, only 1| in. deep, with a hole in 

 the centre, in the usual loam and sand, 

 placing them on the shelf or in the frame 

 in the bush-house on topsy-turned pots. 

 If in the propagating house, place them 

 close to the glass. The cuttings are 

 made very short with a portion of the 

 old wood at the bottom of each. Very 

 little water is given till the callosities 



