328 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 28, 1881. 
“ lumpy," and never failed to produce luxuriantly growing 
specimens full of health and beaut}'. The Balsam delights 
in a moist heat and a very slight shade. When coming into 
bloom it will be benefited by copious supplies of liquid manure. 
The structure in which the Balsams to which I have referred 
were grown was a large vinery, and they succeeded admirably 
in their position. The seed may be sowm now. Very fair 
decorative plants may be produced in eight weeks from the 
time of sowing seed. From this it will be seen how convenient 
it would be to sow r seed so as to have a batch of plants to 
occupy the places vacated by the bedding plants. Few know 
what a large size pot the Balsam will take ; as a matter of 
convenience, however, a pot 9 inches m diameter will be most 
suitable for flowering the plants in. —Vindex. 
RAISING RHUBARB FROM SEED. 
When your correspondent “ Practicalist ” informs the 
readers of the Journal that “raising new plants from seed is a 
better way of obtaining fresh stock for a new plantation than 
dividing the old roots,” he must not expect all gardeners to agree 
with him. I know well how readily plants can be raised from 
seed, and with less trouble than by the mode described on page 288, 
but I do not know how it is possible from a purchased packet 
of seed to carry out the excellent principle of “ only growing a 
good variety or two which always give most satisfaction,” such as 
“ St. Martin’s and Albert.” Will “Practicalist” tell us how 
many plants of these varieties he has obtained from a packet of 
purchased seed, and how many that differed from them ? True, 
he tells us that those who experience difficulty in obtaining pure 
seed should raise their own. But how much time will be lost in 
proving the purity of the seed ? If there were any difficulty in 
increasing the stock of Bhubarb, of which satisfactory varieties 
are established, then the plan of raising plants from seeds might 
be adopted ; but most gardeners, I think, can turn their glass 
structures to better account than by occupying space in the 
manner suggested. If your correspondent cannot grow good 
Rhubarb without having recourse to the elaborate practice that he 
has described he would not be considered a first-rate kitchen gar¬ 
dener by at least a large majority of cultivators and their em¬ 
ployers. After having tried the system of raising Rhubarb from 
seed and seen it tried by others, I and they have fallen back on 
the “ old lines,” and we find we can really maintain a supply of 
the most satisfactory produce from a few superior varieties, which 
we contrive to keep distinct by dividing the crowns. 
For the information of those who desire to grow Rhubarb from 
seed, and who have no suitable glass structures for raising the 
plants, it may perhaps be useful to state that good seed will ger¬ 
minate freely if sown like Parsnip seed in the open ground, but in 
May instead of in March. It also grows freely if sown as soon as 
gathered, forming small plants the same season, which the follow¬ 
ing year will be quite as fine as those “raised in heat and 
hardened off before planting,” as if they were so many Castor- 
oil plants.—A Plain Gardener. 
ACIIIMENES FROM CUTTINGS—WRITING TO THE 
PRESS. 
Mr. Wm. Taylor's remarks on page 269 lead me to say that I 
have for many years grown these plants from cuttings, and so 
have some of my gardening friends. The cuttings are inserted 
in pots three parts filled with soil, the top inch being nearly all 
sand, the bottom inch all manure, and the bulk a mixture of loam 
and manure. A square of glass is placed over each pot, which 
the tops of the cuttings nearly but not quite touch. A brisk tem¬ 
perature, regular moisture, and shade for a week are the chief 
essentials for success. I have found the cuttings strike readily in 
a Cucumber pit. As the plants are required in 6 and 7-inch pots 
the cuttings are inserted an inch apart in pots of that size, and 
after the plants have commenced growing freely a rich compost 
such as loam and dried cow manure or the refuse from a Mush¬ 
room bed is placed amongst them, a few of the lower leaves being 
removed so that it comes in contact with the stems. From these 
roots are emitted freely and the plants then grow rapidly. They 
are dwarfer than plants grown from tubers, and apparently more 
Auriferous, and being grown in rich soil the flowers are as fine as 
can be desired. In lighter soil containing a large proportion of 
peat the plants grow rapidly in their early stages, but there is not 
sufficient sustaining power in it to produce luxuriant specimens 
with rich foliage and fine flowers for a long period. The finest 
plants I ever had were grown in a mixture of equal portions of 
burnt clay and the remains of an old Mushroom bed ; and I may add 
incidentally I never had Maidenhair Ferns, Adiantum cuneatum, 
and others so fine as when grown in that mixture. More care is 
required in watering Achimenes when they are grown in strong 
rich soil than in a lighter compost ; but water being judiciously 
applied the plants enjoy this liberal fare. 
For anything I know to the contrary Achimenes may have been 
grown from cuttings before I knew what a cutting was. Be this 
as it may, I found bv an accident that the cuttings would strike 
readily enough ; for some plants having been topped and the 
portions thrown on the tan in a Pine stove, some that were 
shaded rooted into the tan. The practice of growing the plants 
was not adopted for some time afterwards, and was then brought 
about by a more serious accident than the foregoing. The tubers 
of the stock were at rest in a place to which the frost found 
access, and all were killed. A dozen plants were bought in the 
spring, or rather a dozen varieties, for there were three small 
plants of each in each small pot. In due time the plants were 
topped and the cuttings struck, and by the autumn a far more 
satisfactory display was produced than if this mode of increase 
had not been adopted. I found, however, that the cuttings struck 
late did not produce such fine tubers as those from the original 
plants. 
Mr. Taylor’s remarks on writing to the press are timely. When 
I was a young man I hesitated long before venturing to send my 
remarks to that terrible man—an editor, and almost trembled at 
my temerity after my first missive was despatched ; but I eventu¬ 
ally found a great amount of human nature, even brotherly kind¬ 
ness, might centre in those erudite and to my then youthful mind 
mysterious individuals. From more than one of them I have since 
had encouragement which proved directly to my advantage, as 
my writings being accepted urged me to closer work and study, 
for I felt 1 had won a “ position,” and must not only maintain 
but improve it, and so became a better gardener and ready when 
an opportunity occurred to step from a small place to a large one. 
My first communications were of course “ spoiled ” in my 
esteem by the editor who appeared to take out all the “ best bits.” 
all the smart hits, all the most laboured and elaborate sentences. 
For a time this editor was a perfect enigma to me. I could not 
understand it. I tried another, and yet a third, and they both did 
the same ; at length as time roiled on it occurred to me that these 
inexorable censors could not “ mutilate ” my work from sheer 
wantonness, but must have some substantial reason for their prac¬ 
tice. Eventually it began to dawn on me (I was getting older 
then), that they might be as good judges of writing as myself, and 
might even know better than me what it was prudent to admit 
and what to reject of my elaborate communications. I have long 
since been satisfied that such was undoubtedly the case, and I am 
sure they prevented the appearance of much of my youthful 
nonsense, false science (if there is such a thing), affected expres¬ 
sions, grandiloquent sentences, and “ sly pokes ” at something or 
somebody that it would not have been prudent to have published. 
In this respect I have no doubt escaped many a literary wigging 
that I should have incurred, and thus, what I once thought cruel 
was in reality kind. I have found that editors protect young 
writers and do not expose their failings, and that what these gentle¬ 
men want from gardeners such as myself is plain practice and 
plain Saxon. I daresay they do not object to a “bit of science,” 
but I do know that there are very few young gardeners able 
to take “safe flights” in this direction. Let them study science, 
but leave others of maturer years and with special attainments 
to expound it. 
A gentle rebuke I received many years ago may perhaps be 
mentioned. Being engaged in planting Box edging I was im¬ 
pelled to write about it. Thinking the subject a very common¬ 
place one I hunted up some particulars about the history cf Box, 
its nature and components, and fancy I copied something from an 
old book, and so in my vanity made up a “ fine article.” A few 
days afterwards the bulk of my paper was returned to me, only a 
small portion being retained. I was favoured also with a short 
note as follows :—“You appear to understand Box planting, and 
no doubt your edgings are level, firm, and straight: others need 
such information as you are competent to give, and your notes on 
this subject will appear. The matter returned is in advance of the 
wants of our readers ; place it in your desk for five years, then 
read it, and if you still think it can be usefully published send it 
to us again.” I daresay the shrewd editor knew that in that time 
I should be ashamed of my work, and he would never see it again, 
and he was right. 
Ever since then 1 have endeavoured to state plain facts and 
narrate simple experience in a manner that I hoped might be 
easily understood and prove useful, just as I wrote about planting 
Box edging about thirty years ago, and just as I have described 
