THE PELARGONIUM. 
73 
pare or compete with those grown by the pos- 
sessors of more ample means and structures. 
To begin with the beginning, as the operation 
is proper for this season of the year, I shall 
" firstly" say a few words about 
SOWING THE SEED OF THE PELARGONIUM, 
which is a simple enough operation, requiring, 
of course, as a first condition towards success, 
that the seed be good, which it may be if it has 
been saved, full ripe, last autumn, gathered 
dry, and kept in the pod, wrapped in paper, 
and stored same way as flower seeds in 
general ; or — and perhaps it is a better way — 
the naked seeds may be laid in six or ten 
times their own bulk of powdered charcoal in 
a wooden pill-box. Then, have prepared a 
seed-pan, or wide shallow flower-pot (of size 
suitable to the quantity to be sown), in the 
proper way, that is, let it be filled nearly 
one-third full of crocks, and over these, till 
within half an inch of the brim of the pot, 
with soil composed of equal quantities of loam 
from decayed turf and grassy herbage, leaves 
thoroughly decayed into mould, and clean 
sand. These ingredients being thoroughly 
mixed and slightly pressed in the pan, the 
seeds are to be sown regularly on the surface, 
and then covered, but not buried, with a little 
quantity of same soil •; over which a thin layer 
or stratum of moss is to be placed, and then 
slightly sprinkled with milk-warm water, in 
which a little sulphate of ammonia or super- 
phosphate of lime has been dissolved ; which 
sprinkling ought to be repeated at intervals as 
occasion may require, taking particular heed 
that the soil is never soaked, nor yet allowed 
altogether to become dry. When the covering 
of moss is used, neither of these errors can 
scarcely occur, except through very extreme 
carelessness. Where the convenience of a 
moderately warm frame can be had, it would 
be a proper place to start the seeds in ; but 
where such conveniences cannot be had, the 
seeds may be started very well in the green- 
house, when the best way will be to place the 
pot or pan in which the seeds are sown, within 
another pot or pan large enough to admit of 
a quantity or coating of moss being placed 
around the seed-pot, and within the larger 
one, which coating of moss, like that over the 
seed, ought to be kept constantly moist. As 
soon as the seedlings are large enough to be 
conveniently handled, they should be trans- 
planted singly into sixty sized pots, or — and 
perhaps it is a better way — by threes into 
forty-eight sized pots. The soil to be used for 
this shift should be loam (same as used before) 
three parts ; decayed leaves, one part ; dung 
rotted into mould, one part ; sand, one part ; 
wood-ashes, one part. These ingredients to 
be intimately mixed, but not sifted. 
If the seeds have sprung freely — if damp 
have not spotted or injured the leaves — if 
things have gone on ordinarily well, some of 
these plants will have to be shifted twice again 
ere the middle, or, at latest, the end of summer; 
and, if left uncut, will probably flower in August 
or September. But, as the flowers produced 
at that late season ought not to be depended 
upon, nor taken as a fair sample of what the 
flower would be in its proper season, it would 
certainly be most advisable, at any time from 
Midsummer to the middle of August, to 
CUT OVER THE PLANTS, 
leaving from two to six eyes or buds to the cut 
down plant, 
MAKING CUTTINGS 
of such snoots and pieces of the cut off tops a.s 
are fit for that purpose. As every person 
who knows anything about the Pelargonium 
must know that cuttings of it root freely as 
does the willow, I need, therefore, say but 
little about the process of " striking;" merely 
observing, that the best cuttings are those tips 
of shoots having no flower-buds formed on 
them : the cutting ought to be short -jointed, 
and have four eyes or buds. It ought to be 
in the transition state from watery succulency 
to moderate firmness of texture ; it ought to 
be cut clean through, directly below the under- 
most eye, from which eye the leaf ought also 
to be cut. The cutting then to be sunk pretty 
firmly into the soil, up to, but not altogether 
covering, the next or second eye from bottom. 
The soil into which to strike these ought to 
be sandy loam, and the situation in a nearly 
spent cucumber bed, in a warm part of the 
open border, or even in the green- house, ob- 
serving merely, as a very necessary caution 
towards success, that there be two coverings 
of glass over the cuttings ; that is, a hand- 
glass over them below the frame-sash in the 
frame ; two hand-glasses, a large one over a 
small one, in the open border ; or a bell-glass, 
in the green-house. Shade the cuttings from 
intense sunshine during the first ten days, 
after which — as they will by then be begin- 
ning to emit roots — they may have light, air, 
and water in greater quantities. 
ROOTED PLANTS, 
whether cut-over old plants or rooted cut- 
tings, will cost but little trouble from the time 
their flowering is over in the summer, or early 
autumn, until they are started into growth 
next spring, requiring merely the cut-over 
plants to get a slight shift immediately they 
are cut over, and raising the soil a little higher 
up the stem of the plant than it was. A 
liberal supply of soft water, and as much light 
and air as possible. Cuttings to be potted, as 
soon as rooted, singly into forty- eights. In 
