THE PINK. 
255 
dung ; upon this put about three to four inches 
of good sifted soil, such as we have described 
for growing pinks in. Having collected all 
the sprigs or shoots that are large enough 
from tbe plants in flower, and tied them up in 
bunches as they are gathered, with a label to 
designate their names or sorts, prepare them 
for striking. Take hold of the upper part, but 
as low down as you want to secure them, and 
pick off the heel or bottom joint; then, if there 
be any stem below the joint, cut it off with a 
sharp knife close under the joint ; strip off a 
few of the lower leaves, that there may be a 
stem to thrust into the soil : then place your 
glasses on the soil of the hot-bed, to make a 
mark of their size ; with a very fine watering 
pot give the soil a good wetting without dis- 
turbing it, and thrust in your pipings to the 
depth of the stem you made, but do not, as has 
been the practice with those who ought to 
know better, shorten the leaves ; put them in 
two inches apart all over, or if pressed for 
room, an inch and a-half apart ; we have 
seen them only an inch, but it is not advisable 
to crowd them. As you proceed, place the 
label to each sort in such way as you will 
know how to separate them after they are 
rooted. When the space is filled, take a small 
watering pot, and give enough water to settle 
the earth about the stems, and cover them up 
with the glasses, as soon as the water has sunk 
in, and the surface has dried a little. There they 
remain till they strike root, shaded from the 
sun, and occasionally watered in dry weather ; 
but the watering may be done without for 
days together, in consequence of their being 
confined under the glasses ; and it may be 
easily seen whether there is moisture enough 
in the ground or not, because too much wet is 
mischievous : examine them therefore occa- 
sionally, to see if there be any lack of 
moisture, and only give it when required. It 
will soon be seen when the plant has struck 
root, and the glasses may then be removed, 
but not too suddenly, and they must not have 
the broiling sun. Now prepare a bed, as if it 
were for fresh planting out, and put them out 
in it three inches apart instead of six ; this 
will hold a vast additional number. From 
this bed all the intermediate plants may be 
withdrawn for other beds, or for sale, or for 
potting to protect in frames through the 
winter, or for any other purpose. 
SECOND SERIES OF PIPINGS. 
After the grass, as it is called, has been 
taken from the main plants, there is a strong 
second growth, which frequently makes better, 
and always furnishes surer plants than the first 
crop. These pipings, when they are large 
enough, may be served in the same way as the 
first, but they require more care, and are 
generally more tender than the first : these will 
strike, however, quite as readily with care, and 
when well struck, which is of course much 
later in the season than the first, they should 
be planted out as the others, three inches apart; 
but these are well adapted for pot culture 
through the winter, as they may be kept 
growing in frames without getting them too 
forward. 
POTTING FOR WINTER. 
The plants best adapted for this treatment, 
and that require it most, are the weakly and 
the late pipings. These should be put out one 
in a pot of the large sixty (three-inch) size, 
and in the same soil that is recommended for 
blooming them. These pots should be partly 
filled with the compost, cone fashion, lightly 
put in, the roots of the plants spread round 
the stem outwards a little, and other soil put 
in and pressed down a little: the object of this 
is to have the roots sloping down the side of 
the cone, and the soil put up to the collar of 
the plant, and no higher. Very few plants 
thrive when put lower than they were before 
in the soil ; the only exceptions are those plants 
which rapidly develope roots at every joint, 
and therefore make fresh demands on the soil 
at a proper depth, when their previous roots 
are lower than they have been. These pots 
should be put into a cold frame, and be covered 
up with the glasses for a day or two, close, first, 
however, being watered, to settle the earth 
about the roots, and allowed to drain. If the 
sun becomes too powerful they must be shaded. 
In a day or two they should have air by tilting 
the glasses, still being shaded ; but when once 
established in their new location they may have 
all the air and rain until the winter creeps on, 
when being in small pots, and the roots touch- 
ing the side, they ought to be matted in severe 
weather. 
DISPOSAL OF THE PLANTS FOR BLOODING. 
"We have now brought round the new plants 
to the place we set out at, chiefly to direct 
that those which have been planted only three 
inches apart must now be reduced to the 
number that stand at proper distances ; all the 
intermediate plants being removed, unless it 
has been already done. The spare plants must 
be put into fresh beds, or into the borders, or 
be otherwise disposed of; and the beds dis- 
turbed by their removal must be stirred all 
over with a small hoe, without damaging the 
roots of the plants, and, when properly regu- 
lated, have its top-dressing. All the remaining 
plants in pots must be turned out somewhere ; 
or, if there be any reason to suppose they will 
