February, 1917 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
21 
Increase the length of stem on forced bulbs by putting 
the young plants under the bench, away from light when 
about an inch long 
and repotted in fresh soil. Use a light sandy 
compost to encourage root action and keep 
the soil rather on the dry side until root action 
has started. Excepting with Amaryllis it 
is advisable to start these plants in small pots 
giving them a shift into a larger pot later on, 
and where possible it is a good practice to 
start the bulbs in small batches to continue 
the flowering season as long as possible. 
MAKING PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS 
A LL the ornamental Begonias can be 
raised easily from leaf cuttings and a 
good leaf will furnish half a dozen plants or 
more, by simply making a small in- 
cision across the vein of the leaf which 
is then buried lightly in sand. It is 
difficult to get large sized shoots for 
cuttings of the flowering types of Be- 
gonia but short cuttings, stuck in 
sand, root readily and are just as good 
as the larger ones in the final result. 
Cuttings of greenhouse plants to be 
started now, include Bouvardia, Poin- 
settias, Marguerite Daisies, Abutilons, 
Allamanda, Stephanotis, Fuchsias, 
Stevia, Chorizema, Gardenia, in fact 
practically all greenhouse plants that 
can be propagated by cuttings can be started at 
this time; and do not neglect an early start 
with Coleus, Geraniums, Achyranthus, etc., 
for bedding work; an early start means plenty 
of good sized healthy plants when bedding out 
time arrives. Young runners of Ferns potted up 
now and kept growing during summer will be a 
good size in fall for all kinds of decorative work. 
tp ASTER day this year falls on April 8th, 
and there is ample time to get plants 
well developed for that time. “Hard 
wooded” forcing plants that are needed can 
be started now. It is better to bring them 
along slowly over a longer time rather than 
waiting until the last minute and then sub- 
jecting them to a very high temperature, 
which never gets the best results. Start them 
with a night temperature of not more than 
50 degrees and gradually work up to 60 degrees 
and do not exceed this unless you are actually 
forced to in order to have the plants in flower 
by Easter. Azalea, Rhododendron, Lilac, 
climbing Roses, hybrid perpetual Roses, 
Deutzia, Cytissus, Magnolia, Acacia, Genista, 
Bougainvillea, etc.; are the most popular 
woody plants for Easter decoration. 
FRUIT TREES IN POTS 
T T IS essential to begin forcing fruit trees 
A slowly and if they are placed in a greenhouse 
with a night temperature of not more than 50 
degrees and kept well sprayed they will soon 
show a “break;” they can then be transferred 
to a slightly higher temper- 
ature. Spray with water freely 
until the buds show, when 
they are to be kept rather dry. 
Seeds sown indoors this month will give 
an early start for the outdoor garden 
Some of the vegetables that require early 
sowing are: celery, onions, lettuce, leek, cauli- 
flower, cabbage and tomato, egg plant and 
peppers. 
NEW LIFE IN OLD PLANTS 
A LL plants that have been growing in the 
greenhouse and flowering continuously 
through the winter start to fade off at this 
season of the year unless fed up; and as soot 
is onfe of the best plant foods we have for pro- 
ducing color, it can be used freely on Roses, 
Carnations, Snapdragon, and other flowering 
plants, also on cut greens such as Smilax, 
Asparagus or Ferns that are “off color”. 
Soot can be “scratched into” the benches or 
dissolved in water a 12 inch potful to a barrel 
of water. 
Lilies that are not showing indication of 
“budding up” and are wanted for Easter can 
be given more heat. I hey will stand plenty 
of heat, and just as soon as the buds show give 
liquid feeding, using good strong solution of 
both cow and sheep manure. 
Keep the hardy bulbous plants coming 
along in regular rotation by bringing them in 
at regular intervals and placing them under the 
bench for a few days to give them better 
stem, and after forcing, you can save the bulb 
for planting out around the grounds, first 
ripen them up by storing in a cool frame and 
withholding water from them. And don’t 
throw away Freesia bulbs but after flowering 
place them in a cool greenhouse or cold 
frame to ripen; after the tops have died down 
the boxes can be dumped and the bulbs picked 
out and put away until fall and then forced. 
BULBS FOR SUMMER FLOWER 
CTART summer flowering bulbous plants 
^ such as Amaryllis, yellow Calla, tuberous 
Begonia, Achimines, Gloxinias, Gesnera, etc.; 
these plants should be knocked out of the old 
pots and all loose soil shaken from the roots 
It you would have 
bedding plants — 
Geranium, Coleus — 
etc. in abundance, 
start propagating 
by taking cuttings 
in February 
Any good varieties of Dahlia that you are 
anxious to work up some stock of can be 
brought up and started into growth. If put 
on the greenhouse bench and covered with a 
little sand or ashes they will soon throw out 
numerous shoots for propagating. 
Make sure now that you have all the Car- 
nation cuttings you need, it is usually an easy 
matter to get cuttings at this season of the 
year and they root very quickly. Keep 
the old Carnation plants well disbuded; this 
means quite a lot o£work at this time of year, 
but you never get good sized flowers if you 
neglect this, and where mulching hasn’t 
been practised the plants should be fed 
copiously with liquid manure. 
PLANTS TO FLOWER FOR EASTER 
