March 3,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 169 
The whole should be well chopped with the spade and carefully 
mixed before using, but not riddled. Preparing the drainage of 
the pots is of the greatest importance, as Cinerarias require at all 
times an abundant supply of water, and neglect of this often 
leads to disastrous results. Have a sufficient number of 6-inch 
pots well washed and dried ; have also a quantity of potsherds 
in two sizes—one about the size of walnuts for the bottom of the 
pots, the other smaller to cover them. There should be at least 
inch depth of crocks covered with a little dry moss or leaves 
to prevent the soil mixing with the drainage ; then proceed with 
the operation of potting by placing a handful of soil on the crocks 
sufficient to keep the plant level with the rim of the pot, set the 
plant in the centre, and fill round it with the compost, pressing it 
gently down ; be careful not to break the leaves, as they are very 
tender. When the pot is quite full give it a gentle knock upon 
the bench to finally settle the soil, and as soon as all are finished 
place them in a cold frame facing north, and give a gentle water¬ 
ing with the rose on the pot. I always water them over the 
leaves, and I find by doing so they are kept clean and free from 
the green fly, which is their greatest enemy. Cinerarias are very 
fast-rooting plants, and they will soon require another shift. To 
know when they need it turn a plant carefully out of the pot; and 
ifthe roots have reached the sides and are running through the 
drainage repot again immediately, for if the roots once become 
closely matted the plants will be crippled in their growth. Eight- 
inch pots should then be prepared in the same way as before 
mentioned, using the same compost for the potting ; after this 
shift the frame should be reversed, as the season will now be 
advanced, and the plants will require a south aspect. It will be 
necessary to shade them for a few days if they should flag after 
potting, keeping them well watered over the leaves. The principal 
object is to keep them growing freely. By the time they have 
filled these pots well with roots the plants will have attained a 
sufficient size for all ordinary purposes, but if large specimens are 
required they must have another shift. 
They are best without heat if they can be protected from the 
frost, and where there is neither greenhouse nor heated pit they 
will be safe in a cold frame through ordinary winters if it is 
covered every night with mats or litter, and when frost is severe 
in the day as well. It will also be necessary during very severe 
weather to pack round the sides and ends of the frame or pit with 
dry leaves or litter of sufficient thickness to keep the temperature 
a little above freezing point. Another way is to dig a pit in a dry 
situation deep enough to sink the frame level with the ground 
line. By this method the cultivator will have less difficulty in 
preserving the plants from the effects of frost. During severe 
weather it will sometimes be necessary to keep the covering on 
the glass for a long time. I have known such structures covered 
and the plants kept in darkness for as much as a fortnight 
without injury, but on all favourable days they should be un¬ 
covered and moderate ventilation given. The plant will grow and 
be healthier in such a situation than in greenhouses, but will not 
come into flower so soon as plants grown in heated pits. Whilst 
in the cold frame I would recommend a bottom of roughish ashes 
for them to stand upon, which will not only allow all surplus 
water to drain freely from the pots after watering, but prevent 
the worms getting into them, and check the inroads of slugs and 
snails, which are very fond of the young foliage. At all times a 
sharp look-out for the green fly must be kept, and soon as the 
first one is discovered the plants should be fumigated. 
I especially caution the amateur against employing too much 
artificial heat, which should not as a rule exceed 45°, and in no 
case more than 50°. Any attempt to unduly force the Cineraria 
is certain destruction. As soon as the flowerstems appear they 
are greatly assisted by an occasional application of weak liquid 
manure, which increases the strength of the plant and imparts a 
richer tone to the foliage, also adds to the size of the flowers. 
When the flowerstems are well advanced and the flowers appear 
the plants should be placed in the greenhouse or conservatory, 
giving them the lightest and most airy situation in the structure. 
If the flowerstems are numerous, causing the flowers to be too 
crowded, it is a good plan to employ a few sticks to tie the stems 
to, and the flowers will then be seen to a greater advantage and 
the plants be benefited by a freer circulation of air among the 
branches.— J. Walker.— (Abridged from a Pa])cr Head at 
Sheffield.) 
FLETCHER’S PATENT METAL SUBSTITUTE FOR 
PUTTY. 
Mr. Fletcher (Fletcher, Lowndes & Co., 13A, Great George 
Street, Westminster) has submitted to us this invention for affix¬ 
ing glass in horticultural and other structures where glass is 
needed. As is stated by the inventor, “ the metal substitute for 
putty is formed of such a section of hard incorrosive metal that 
shall lie evenly and with a uniform pressure upon the surface of 
the glass, however uneven such surface may be; and can be 
adapted to any form of glazing bar, whether in wood or metal, 
now in ordinary use.” The section fig. 37 shows the appliance as 
used without a sashbar ; indeed in this form it is a substitute for 
a bar as well as for putty. Fig. 38 shows its applicability to an 
existing bar, and thus rendering putty and paint superfluous. The 
form of the metal is such as to grip the glass tightly, in this respect 
being perfectly safe against high winds, while it is sufficiently 
elastic to yield to pressure, such as the expansion of water during 
frost, and for the removal and replacement of squares as may be 
needed. The inventor also claims for his plan of glazing the 
Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 
advantage of being 10 per cent, less costly than ordinary glazing 
with putty and paint. This of course we have not tested, but we 
can testify that the example submitted to us was thoroughly 
efficient, and combined firmness, elasticity, simplicity, and dur¬ 
ability. By this mode of glazing we have no doubt a roof would 
be safe, sound, and waterproof. 
ROSES ON THEIR OWN ROOTS. 
For many years has this subject been discussed, not in a series 
of papers as seasonable hints, nor with anything like that degree 
of earnestness which its importance renders it worthy of, but 
rather with a vague uncertainty and a mingling of inquiry and 
suggestion than an explicit statement of facts—results achieved 
and cultural details. Nor have we far to look in search of the 
cause of the general negligence of what should be a popular 
method of the culture of such an universal favourite as the Rose. 
It is owing, I think, chiefly to the fact that nurserymen do not 
offer Roses on their own roots. New kinds of stocks crop up— 
seedling Briars and so forth—but “ own roots ” are kept in the 
background, simply, I suspect, from the large quantity of stout 
thoroughly developed wood that must be employed in making 
cuttings by the thousand, which wood could not well be obtained 
even in our largest nurseries without such a mutilation of the 
stock as would materially affect its value. 
Long ago the idea of growing Roses on their own roots occurred 
to me ; and the attempt to do so proved so successful, and the 
bushes so superior to all others, that cultural details from making 
the cutting and onwards through the entire process of the deve¬ 
lopment of a finished specimen were given at leDgth in the pages 
of the Journal. Cuttings of stout firm wood of the current year’s 
growth were made early in autumn, inserted in sandy soil in a 
cold frame, transplanted to a nursery bed as soon as the roots were 
sufficiently forward in spring, and by generous treatment and 
careful stopping and training elegant cone-shaped bushes some 
4 to 5 feet high were produced in two years. A few late flowers 
were allowed on them in the autumn of the second year, and in 
the third season they were laden with bloom, and were literally 
pyramids of beauty, offering a striking contrast to the stiff un¬ 
sightly standards that are still grown by thousands. Nor could the 
dwarfs from which the Rose exhibitor cuts his choicest flowers bear 
favourable comparison with them ; for his aim is to produce 
excellence in foliage and blossom, and he is quite content if each 
plant has three or four stout shoots, each crowned by a single good 
flower. But then such growth most readily affords him precisely 
what he wants—a few fine flowers, and nothing more, an object 
totally at variance with that of the professional gardener, who 
requires fine flowers and plenty of them, so disposed as to be 
attractive individually and collectively. To him, therefore, Roses 
on their own roots, trained as I have shown, are infinitely prefer¬ 
able, provided he is able to bestow the requisite amount of atten¬ 
tion upon their culture ; for all Roses like generous living and 
soon deteriorate without it. It is true enough that they will live 
