CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
239 
giving when there is going to be a produce of 
three or four bunches, time for a few inches 
of further extension. The progress of the 
sap upwards being thus stopped will be found 
to influence quickly several of the buds below; 
but the 2nd upper one will soon so take the 
lead as to threaten to impoverish the rest, and 
must therefore be treated like the upper one ; 
and similar thereto should be the treatment of 
all the remaining buds down to that from 
which it may be thought fit to train a succes- 
sion shoot untopped." 
Cottage-garden Societies. — It has been 
proposed, as likely to be advantageous to the 
labouring classes, that societies for the en- 
couragment of cottage gardening should be 
formed by the higher class of inhabitants, in 
every village. These societies are to point 
out to the poor, the most profitable crops for 
allotment cultivation, and to supply the place 
of the now uncertain potato ; to give them 
necessary instructions as to their management; 
to offer prizes for the best productions ; and 
also for the best principle of cropping and cul- 
tivating their gardens. It is proposed that 
such societies should at once issue such rules 
and regulations as may be necessary ; and 
further, that by the aid of the wealthy they 
should distribute such seeds, roots, &c, as 
may be necessary for stocking the ground, and 
by the aid of practical members the necessary 
instructions and advice as to the mode of cul- 
tivation. The parsnip is very highly recom- 
mended for all purposes ; then the carrot, the 
Swedish turnip, and the beet-root. Onions 
and leeks are considered to be desirable ; and 
good varieties of cabbages, kales, and Savoys, 
should always be largely planted by the poor. 
Tigridias. — The two species of Tigridia, 
pavonia and conchiflora, make fine beds in 
the flower-garden in sheltered situations, not- 
withstanding the ephemeral nature of their 
blossoms, which individually last but one day : 
the succession in which they are produced 
counterbalances this objection. They may be 
planted, early in March, in pots of peat and 
sandy loam, and forwarded in a warm frame, 
being hardened off subsequently to planting 
them out in May ; or they may be planted at 
once into the beds towards the end of March 
or beginning of April, the soil being in good 
friable condition, filling up round about the 
roots at planting time with sandy peat. In 
the autumn, it is an advantage to cover the 
surface of the beds six inches thick with litter, 
to keep the frost from killing the stems too 
low down. In November they may be taken 
up and stored among perfectly dry soil, and 
examined once or twice during winter. 
Calceolarias — to increase rapidly/. — 
When the plants have made young shoots of 
three or four joints in length, after flowering, 
take off these, and cut them up in this man- 
ner: — Separate each shoot, in the middle of the 
lowest internode, that is the space between 
one pair of leaves and another ; repeat this at 
the other internodes, as many as they may be. 
Each shoot taken from the plant will thus be 
divided into three, four, or more pieces, ac- 
cording to the numbers of pairs of leaves it 
had when whole ; and each division will con- 
sist of a pair of opposite leaves, and portion 
of stem — from half an inch to an inch, ac- 
cording to circumstances — on each side of 
these leaves. Each of these pieces is then to 
be slit down the middle, so as to separate the 
two leaves, each having half the thickness of 
the portion of stem attached to it : the ex- 
treme top, which will be too small to split 
asunder in this way, may be slit from below 
upwards just through the joint, and planted 
in this state. These are the cuttings. A 
shoot having three pairs of leaves and the tip 
will thus form seven cuttings ; and as the tip 
may be pulled asunder afterwards, there will, 
in fact, be eight cuttings from such a shoot as 
is usually put in to form one plant. The cut- 
tings are planted thus : — convenient sized pots 
are filled with sandy soil, made from very 
turfy peat rubbed through a half-inch sieve, 
and mixed with equal parts of silver sand ; 
these pots must be well drained, and the soil 
covered with a half-inch layer of pure sand. 
One row of cuttings — not more, or they are 
liable to damp off — is planted round the mar- 
gin of the pot, the leaf being set towards the 
centre, and the split part of the stem close to 
the pot : the leaf must on no account be in- 
jured, as the life of the cutting depends on it. 
The bud at the base of the leaf is to be set, in 
planting them, just below the surface ; and 
the cutting must be made quite firm, by press- 
ing the soil against it and the pot : the leaves 
must not touch, or they will be liable to rot. 
A close warm frame is necessary for them, 
and they must of course be shaded. They 
usually root well ; and in due time, when 
roots enough are formed, must be separated, 
and potted singly : the plant is formed from 
the bud at the base of the leaf. The tips, 
which were to be cut, but not separated before 
planting, are to be separated after they are 
rooted, at the time of planting. This mode is 
adopted for the extensive increase of particu- 
lar kinds ; where such increase is not desired, 
of course ordinary cuttings are preferable and 
less troublesome. 
Manettia bicolor. — Where there is the 
advantage of stove-heat, the elegant orange 
and scarlet blossoms of this graceful climbing 
plant may be had in profusion for two or three 
months during the dull period of winter. To 
attain this, cuttings should be procured as 
soon as possible in the spring, and struck in a 
