CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS, 
109 
required in the general treatment of tins tribe, it is palpable that its propagation 
must need a still greater share of attention. 
Pelargonia, say some, root as readily as willows ; and cuttings certainly strike 
with great facility if fitly managed. But it is in the latter point that their aptitude 
for the production of roots is entirely involved. They may, perchance, form 
healthy plants without the application of heat, though a very considerable quantity 
of them will be lost in the experiment. 
The chief conditions which determine the successful propagation of these plants 
are, that they be taken off at a proper season, that their wood be in a suitable state, 
that they be not altogether deprived of their leaves, and be kept in a moist genial 
atmosphere, until perfectly established. We will cursorily consider each of these 
circumstances. 
Although spring seems in many respects the most appropriate time for effecting 
this operation, universal experience and practice pronounce it unfavourable, princi- 
pally because the crude consistence of the shoots exposes them to facile destruction 
after severance, and prevents theni from at once forming vigorous independent spe- 
cimens. These are strong objections. Nevertheless, as a partial counterbalance, 
there is the whole subsequent summer to mature their growth, and impart both 
luxuriance and solidity. And since autumn cannot so fully secure such con- 
comitants, it may be well, where there is no scruple with regard to checking 
the parent plants, to obtain and rear a small portion of cuttings in the vernal 
months. The admirable condition of the young wood in early autumn, when it is 
exactly intermediate between hardness and succulence, and the additional advantage 
afforded by the actual and necessary removal of the branches at that period^ are the 
prime indicators of its appropriateness ; while, by the creation of an artificial tem- 
perature, the want of more prolonged natural excitation may be nearly compensated. 
The time, therefore, at which the autumnal pruning is accomplished, is precisely 
that at which cuttings should be prepared and planted. 
By a due regard to the preceding direction, a fitness in the substance of the 
branches will be effectually ensured. Yet, a selection of the more suitable parts of 
these becomes necessary. All the lower and indurated portions must be discarded, 
not only on account of the increased stimulation they would need, and the prolonged 
period requisite for their further development, but likewise because there are fewer 
and weaker buds in such situations than on the higher and younger parts. Many 
prefer the extreme summits of shoots, and, when practicable, reject the more 
ripened wood. The adoption of this system leaves no wounded surface exposed to 
the air, and invariably retains a sufficient quantity of excellent foliage : but, 
by rendering the growth perfectly simple and erect, it entails the reduction of the 
plant in spring, in order to induce a bushy habit. The buds of the joints almost 
immediately below the summit are, on the other hand, usually stronger than the 
crowning one, and their protrusion laterally at so early a stage, constitutes the 
specimen more or less dwarf and symmetrical, at a much sooner epoch of its 
existence. 
