MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 



737 



cording to the rules of modern floriculture, con- 

 stitutes the first and principal qualification ; the 

 second is substance in the petals; the thh"d, size; 

 and the fourth and last, colour. And to these we 

 may add the habit of the plant itself, and the 

 compactness and arrangement of the truss. Our 

 best hybridisers, therefore, only save seed from 

 those already possessing these properties nearest 

 perfection — knowing from experience that the 

 flower to bear the seed should possess the pro- 

 perty of form. In order to secure the other 

 points or properties, cut off the anthers of the 

 well-formed variety before impregnation can by 

 possibility have taken place, and protect the 

 female parent by all possible means from being 

 impregnated by other pollen than that of the 

 flower chosen to be the male parent. The seed 

 should be allowed to ripen fully before gather- 

 ing ; and until the ensuing spring it should be 

 carefully kept in a dry and cool room. The 

 beginning of March is a very proper time to 

 sow, using rich light soil, and shallow pans, well 

 drained, placing them in a moderate bottom- 

 heat, where vegetation will speedily take place. 

 When the seedlings have attained their two first 

 leaves, and are about an inch in height, remove 

 them from the pit or frame, and place them 

 close to the glass in another pit, or on a shelf 

 in the greenhouse near the glass, watering spar- 

 ingly, as they are apt to damp off. After a 

 week's exposure in such a situation, they will be 

 fit to pot off singly into small- sized- 60 pots, in 

 light rich loam and leaf-mould, with the addition 

 of about one-eighth of fine river-sand. Re- 

 place them in a similar situation, keeping them 

 still close to the glass, and abundantly supplied 

 with air. As the plants advance in size, shift 

 into larger pots, from time to time, as they re- 

 quire it, until the beginning of July, when they 

 may be set out of doors in a warm, airy, but 

 not exposed place, upon a floor of coal-ashes or 

 boarding, where they should remain until the 

 first appearance of autumnal frost, when they 

 should be removed to the geranium-pit or green- 

 house. During their first season's growth they 

 should not be topped, as their merits have not 

 as yet been ascertained ; and in order to prevent 

 their growing too tall or straggling, they should 

 be kept quite close to the glass ; nor should they 

 be stimulated with rich manure. They will 

 flower the following spring, when the selection 

 should take place, and such as are found to 

 possess sufficient merit for retaining should be 

 immediately cut down, the tops used as cuttings, 

 and the plant encouraged in growth to enable it 

 to produce a further supply, if stock be desired. 

 If not, the plant should be treated as established 

 plants noticed below. 



Propagation by roots. — The tuberous-rooted, 

 and many of the original true species, as well as 

 some of the new fancy varieties, are found to be 

 best increased by this means. The process is to 

 remove all the soil with care from the roots, and 

 to cut them into short pieces, each portion having 

 a few fibres left attached to it. These are planted 

 in small pots, watered, and placed in a mild 

 bottom-heat, in a close pit or frame. When the 

 young shoots appear, give air progressively. As 

 they will often send up a number of shoots, after 



these have attained the length of 1 or 2 inches, 

 remove all but such as may be required for 

 forming the future plant, which should not 

 exceed three in number, while some growers 

 retain only one. Whichever of these is adopted, 

 stopping them when about 3 inches in height 

 should take place, with a view to induce them 

 to send out side shoots. 



Propagation by cuttings may be carried on 

 from the end of February to the end of August; 

 but the plants are in best condition for affording 

 cuttings at the time they begin to cease flower- 

 ing, at which time, also, they require to be cut 

 down to insure bushy plants for next season. 

 This usually takes place in June and July. 

 When the number of young plants required is 

 small, then the cuttings may be placed singly in 

 60-sized pots, and if these are plunged in a mild 

 bottom-heat in March or April they will root 

 speedily; or if not put in till June, July, or 

 August, they may be set on a floor of sifted 

 coal-ashes under glass in a pit or frame without 

 bottom-heat, and if moderately shaded till the 

 rooting process commences, will strike readily. 

 Where large quantities, however, are required, 

 such as the various sorts of Scarlets, for plant- 

 ing out during summer in the parterres, then 

 March is the proper time, and dung-beds and 

 frames the best means ; the plants will be pushed 

 on rapidly, and be in fit condition for planting 

 out by the beginning of June. The pots should 

 be well drained, and not exceeding 5 or 6 inches 

 in width ; the soil, light loam mixed with sand. 

 The side shoots which have not flowered make 

 the best cuttings, and should be taken off when 

 about 3 inches in length. The lower leaves 

 should be cut cleanly off with a sharp knife as 

 far as the cutting is to be inserted in the soil ; 

 but those above that should be most scrupu- 

 lously preserved and left entire. The base of the 

 cutting, being cut transversely over just under 

 a joint, is fit for placing in the soil. When the 

 cuttings are strong and full of sap, they should 

 be laid out on the potting-table in a shady place 

 for a few hours, or if prepared in the afternoon, 

 may remain till morning, to allow a portion of 

 the sap to escape; but such as are weak do not 

 require this precaution. They should then be 

 set in the pots around their edges, keeping them 

 in an upright position ; from four to six or eight, 

 according to the size of the leaves, are sufficient 

 for one pot. Settle the soil about them by a 

 gentle watering, and when dry, either plunge 

 them in bottom-heat or set them on a bed of 

 coal-ashes, according to the season, as noticed 

 above. In either case shading is necessary, but 

 to obviate this as much as possible, we set the 

 frames at either season facing the north, and 

 often behind a north wall, thus preventing the 

 action of the sun upon them till rooted, and 

 yet admitting light, which is of importance to 

 them, which, if covered with ordinary shading, 

 would not be the case. When the cuttings 

 begin to grow, roots will have become formed, 

 and now air must be admitted more freely. If 

 the process is conducted in heat, an atmospheric 

 temperature should be maintained of from 55° 

 to 60°, with from 5° to 8° more of bottom-heat. 

 If bottom-heat is dispensed with, then a close 



