168 
OPERATIONS FOR AUGUST. 
abundance this year, and will assuredly be strengthened by being prevented from ripening their 
fruit. It may appear a very troublesome business to those who are content to leave their gardens 
to Nature's tendance ; but they who wish to cultivate them will willingly adopt any such expedient 
by which they may be improved. 
What has thus been said extends to most shrubs and flowers in the hardy department. Sweet 
Peas will bloom again if their flowers are plucked as they fade. Sweet-williams will flower well 
through another season, when their decaying heads of blossom are taken away. Mimulus 
cardinalis will flower in the autumn, if its recent flowering shoots be cut off". Stocks bloom a 
second time, provided their inflorescence is cut early, just as it begins to wither. China Rosea 
blossom afresh under the same treatment. The bulbs of Lilies, &c., are strengthened if their 
flower-stems are severed before they commence seeding. Single Rockets, Larkspurs, and many 
others, flower a second time, and every kind of herbaceous plant is benefited, by having its 
flowers abstracted as they die ; while, independently of this, the garden is rendered much more 
tidy by their removal. Indeed, it cannot be kept neat without such attention. 
But the advantages of the practice do not cease with hardy plants. All fruit-bearing 
ornamental species, the seed of which is not desired, should be spared the exhaustion of 
developing it ; and no fruit, save that which is in itself ornamental, ought to be seen in the 
greenhouse and stove. The berry of Columnea Schiediana is a pleasing object ; but it greatly 
weakens the plant. Those of Fuchsias ought to be plucked off in an early stage. And so on 
through all the tribes, taking in the Pelargoniums, &c., that are in the flower-beds, and, in the 
majority of instances, cutting off" the flowers as soon as their beauty wanes, before there has been 
time for fruit to form. Among the house Pelargoniums,- too, if, instead of pruning them all at this 
time, a few of the smaller specimens that have not flowered very abundantly were simply to have 
their old blossoms plucked and be taken to some half-shaded spot, under an east or west wall, 
and there plunged in the border, still keeping them in their pots, they might bloom again in the 
autumn, and come in then as acceptable ornaments to the greenhouse. 
This is the proper period for budding Roses and other plants that are to be thus multiplied. 
In addition to the usual kinds which are budded on standards, it is a good practice to put a few of 
the more compact- growing climbers on standard stocks. When they grow, they will necessarily 
take a pendent character ; and, if slightly pruned, they will make very beautiful objects for the 
lawn, creating a fine variation from the more formal-headed ones commonly seen. 
It is also the season for propagating Pinks, Picotees, and Carnations, where they have not yet 
been attended to. The first kinds are increased by cuttings, usually called pipings, which will 
strike in sandy soil, under a shaded hand-glass, in front of a south wall. The Picotees and 
Carnations are multiplied by layers, pegging the best shoots down into some light soil prepared 
for the purpose, and running a sharp knife through that joint which comes nearest the actual 
bend. None of the leaves, either of Pinks or these plants, should be at all covered by the earth. 
Greenhouses and stoves may now have more air, and attention should be given to hardening 
the wood of the young shoots, and preventing them from growing afresh, by free exposure to light 
and air, and by a more cautious supply of moisture. The syringe or the small engine will 
occasionally be useful, to invigorate the plants, and wash off any insects that may make their 
appearance. 
