190 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
cuttings should be taken off when the young 
shoots are about three inches long ; plant them 
in silver sand, and set them in a hot-bed. 
Leaf propagation maybe done in two ways: — 
1. Insert the leaf in sand like a cutting, the 
base soon forms a knob, from which a bud is 
subsequently developed. 2. Cut the principal 
rib at the back of the leaf through with a knife 
in several places, an inch or more apart ; then 
press the leaf flat upon the sand, and place a 
few small stones on the top near the incisions, 
to keep it down flat; the ribs are to be placed 
downward; then cover with a bell-glass, and 
place in a brisk heat ; little knobs will be 
formed at the incisions, which in due time will 
put forth buds. Keep them all, while growing, 
in a warm moist atmosphere, and when their 
leaves are mature, allow them to become com- 
paratively dry, in which state they may be set 
away in a cool frame for a month or two ; after 
which they should be potted in fresh soil, of 
equal parts sandy peat and leaf-mould, set in 
a warm pit, and gradually watered until they 
are fairly started, when they must have plenty 
of heat, light, and water, and a little weak liquid 
manure once or twice a week. 
Veronica speciosa as a Standard. — This 
fine greenhouse plant is said to have a noble 
appearance when grown as a standard ; it is 
an excellent winter blooming plant. 
To prevent Iron from rusting. — M. Zeni 
states that iron, painted over twice with the 
following composition, and exposed daily for 
some time to the action of the sea, remained 
entirely free from rust : — With eighty parts of 
pounded and very finely sifted brick- dust, mix 
twenty parts of litharge ; this is then to be 
ground upon a slab with linseed oil, to the con- 
sistence of a thick paste, and then diluted with 
oil of turpentine. Before using, the iron 
should be rubbed quite clean. 
How to prune. — In pruning all kinds of 
plants the proper way of making the cut is 
thus : — With a sharp knife make one clean cut 
through the shoot, commencing on the opposite 
side from a bud, and bringing out the knife on 
the other side, close above the top of the bud, 
the cut forming a sloping wound with an 
angle of about 45 degrees. When growth 
commences such a wound as this is soon healed. 
It is wrong to cut so as to leave a snag above 
the terminal bud which is left; equally so to 
cut through to the level of the base of the bud, 
or nearly so ; and the common mode of making 
a long irregular cut, beginning much below 
the bud, and ending considerably above, is 
quite as bad, and even less workmanlike. 
Seedling Pelargoniums. — The quality of 
a flower, as regards its usefulness to the culti- 
vator, is never thoroughly ascertained under 
thi'ee years from the time of raising. Those 
qualities, indeed, which relate to " properties" 
may be regarded as settled the second season 
of blooming, but the grower has also to ascer- 
tain the capacity of the plant to answer his 
ends. Some varieties naturally bloom in their 
perfection early in the ordinary season, others 
late; and the grower for exhibition, who has to 
manage his plants so as to have them in per- 
fection at a fixed day, requires to know these, 
so that he may grow the early varieties for his 
earliest purposes, and reserve the later ones 
for the later shows. There are indeed some 
kinds that bloom tolerably well at any part of 
the season, but many others come out of 
character as it is called, when grown out of 
their proper season. 
Annuals. — Well grown Annuals contribute 
much to the gaiety of the garden; and although 
not quite so well adapted for masses as some 
of our half-hardy plants, yet they are extremely 
eligible for borders and mixed beds. They 
are frequently treated with too much kincl- 
ness, sown in soil of too rich a character, and, 
of course, " run too much to leaf." All those 
who who can spare the means, should devote 
two little frames to their especial cultivation 
during the early part of sjDring, the one with 
bottom-heat, the other without it. That with 
bottom-heat would be better with a plunging 
material, possessing a permanent heat of 70 
degrees, the pots placed very close to a clear 
glass roof, and matted up at night. The other 
frame, without bottom-heat, should be raised 
a foot above the ground level, where water 
cannot possibly stand, and should be filled to 
within a foot of the glass with cinder ashes. 
They should be both well watered with boil- 
ing water previous to placing the pots, to 
destroy all insects. Both the tender and 
hardy kinds are conveniently raised in the 
frame with heat ; managing the sowings in a 
successive way, according to the period in 
which they are required to blossom. The 
hardy, however, would have to be removed to 
the cold frame as soon as an inch high ; they 
would there harden down in a couple of weeks, 
and be ready for turning out into the borders. 
The tender annuals, if in the warm frame 
they are being drawn up weakly, might be re- 
moved to warm and light shelves in the green- 
house or other structures. The soil for the 
hardy kinds should be chiefly plain loam ; this 
will be found to produce a sturdier plant than 
rich vegetable matters, and much blossom, in 
proportion to the amount of foliage. AIL 
hardj' annuals are best raised in pots through 
the summer, in cool frames, turning them out 
when slightly pot-bound. How often are 
annuals seen in rich borders, of immense 
size, yet contributing little to the decoration 
of the garden, from their paucity of flowers ; 
and in a wet and dull summer actually rottin^ 
in the ground j — Q.C. 
