738 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



atmosphere, with a northern exposure, kept at 

 from 55° to 60°, which will be the case naturally 

 at that particular season of the year, is to be 

 preferred. Little water should be given them 

 in either case till the callosities are formed at 

 their bases ; still the soil should not be allowed 

 to become too dry. We propagate our scarlet 

 geraniums in mild hot-beds facing the north 

 during March and April. Others do so during 

 the summer months, by setting them in pre- 

 pared soil at the bottom of a wall without pots, 

 covered with hand-glasses; and Mr Beaton in- 

 forms us that he prefers striking them on the 

 surface of a vinery border during summer with- 

 out any covering whatever. When the cuttings 

 have grown to the length of an inch or so, roots 

 will have been emitted, and when that is the 

 case they should be carefully taken out of the 

 cutting-pots or soil, and potted singly into 60 

 or 48-sized pots according to their size. As this 

 operation goes on, they should be removed; 

 such as were struck in heat, to another frame 

 of equal temperature, and plunged into it, kept 



close, and partially shaded for a few days, 

 or till they become established. Such as 

 were struck without bottom-heat when potted 

 off, should be set in pits or frames of a corre- 

 sponding temperature to that they were struck 

 in. When they have filled the pots with roots, 

 they should then be shifted into 32-sized pots, re- 

 taining their balls entire, and again into 24's, and 

 so on until they have arrived at the sized pot in 

 which they are to flower, and which may be taken 

 at from 7 to 9 inches in diameter, according to 

 their habit : the Fancy varieties may be flowered 

 in the former of these sizes, while the majority 

 of the tuberous-rooted kinds should be confined 

 to pots of 5 to 6 inches, which are called 24's 

 and 16's, and none of the Fancies need be flower- 

 ed in larger than 6's. 



Considerable discrepancy exists between the 

 scale of sizes in England and in Scotland, and 

 even in various parts of the provinces. This, 

 like the differences in weights and measures, 

 appears to be beyond the power of common 

 sense to remedy. We have throughout this 



GLASGOW SCALE. 



Pots 2 inches in diameter, inside measure, are called 60's* 



2| 



inches by 2^ inches, . . 



small 48's 



n 



25 



large 48's 



3k 



3* 



42's 



4 



4 



36's 





4J 



30*s 



6 



5| 

 6 



24"8 



18*s 



7 



7 



12's 



8 



8 



8's 



9 



.9 



6*s 



10 



..10 



4's 



11 



..11 



3's 



124 



.. m 



2's 



16 



..16 



l's 



* That is, 60 pots to the dozen. 



LONDON SCALE. 

 Pots 1| inches by 2 inches, inside measure, are called thumbs, or 80's 



. 2^ .. 2| .. .. .. .. 60's 



. 3 .. 4 .. .. .. 48's 



.4 .. 5 .. .. .. .. 32's 



.5 .. 6 .. .. .. .. 24's 



.6 .. 7 .. .. .. .. 16's 



.7 .. 6 .. .. .. .. 12's 



.8 .. 7 .. .. .. .. 8's 



.9 .. 8 .. .. .. .. 6's 



.12 ..10 .. ... .. .. 4's 



.18 ..12 .. .. .. .. 2's 



work calculated on the London standard, and as 

 some guide to amateurs and country purchasers, 

 will give the London and Glasgow scales of sizes, 

 which, with some slight allowance, may be 

 taken as representing pretty nearly the sizes 

 used in both countries. 



There are also large and small 60's, large and 

 small 48's, large and small 32's ; the large in these 

 sizes are of an intermediate size between each. 



In Scotland they are sold by the dozen, and 

 in England by the cast; the price is generally 

 the same for all the above sizes, two pots of 

 cast No. 2 costing the same price as eighty pots or 

 a cast of thumbs. And a somewhat similar rule 

 is followed in Scotland, one pot 16 inches by 16 

 costing the same as sixty 2 inches in diameter. 



As the plants increase in size, the leading 

 shoot should have its top pinched off to induce 

 the side shoots to send out branches ; and these, 



in their turn, will require stopping until a suffi- 

 cient number of branches are formed near the 

 bottom of the plant, to insure its attaining a 

 uniform and bushy habit. 



In regard to the propagation of the fancy 

 pelargoniums by cuttings, autumn and spring 

 are the proper seasons, the latter being the best, 

 as plants struck at that time are less likely to 

 become stunted in growth, and cuttings in a 

 very fit state may be then obtained from the 

 young shoots, which will require to be thinned 

 out of the old plants. Therefore, in February or 

 early in March, such plants as it is intended to 

 take cuttings from should be placed in a some- 

 what moist frame or pit with a temperature 

 from 50° to 55°, and when the young shoots 

 have made from 2 to 3 inches in length, they 

 should be taken off close to the old stem, and 

 inserted in the cutting-pots. The strongest of 



