96 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 2, 18g3. 
do trespass ; but if he stones them, or traps them, or lays down poisoned 
grain for them on his own land, he becomes the offender, and can be 
prosecuted therefor. If you can prove that he places the poisoned 
grain on his own land you need not wait until some of your fowls eat 
it and die, the offence is completed as soon as the grain is laid on the 
ground, and he can be summarily convicted for so doing by the magis¬ 
trates in petty sessions and fined £10.”—W. Gallinagh. 
NOTES ON PROPAGATING. 
The beginning of August is generally looked upon as the orthodox 
period to commence propagating bedding plants as stock for the follow¬ 
ing summer’s use. Those who are in a position to take cuttings from 
Pelargoniums now or at an earlier period, have every advantage in 
securing strong well-rooted plants capable of passing in safety those few 
weeks in midwinter so trying to plants which have been coddled. Cut¬ 
tings taken at present root quite freely under very ordinary conditions. 
Nothing suits them better than to dibble them in light soil out of doors, 
to be afterwards lifted and potted or boxed in time to be established 
before winter. I cannot cut from beds until September, consequently 
propagation is not so simply managed. But just now we like to insert 
cuttings of Verbenas, Konigas, Iresines, &c. ; boxes are preferred for these. 
A layer of coal cinders is placed for drainage, then a sound compost of 
loam and manure, and on the surface a slight layer of sea sand. Begin¬ 
ners must note that all these ought to planted directly they are removed 
from the parent plants, and then transferred to the frame before they 
have time to flag or droop. It may also be pointed out that large 
cuttings are not so good as those which are smaller and healthy. Grow¬ 
ing points to 2 inches in length make very good cuttings. I'hey are 
not given to droop under the same conditions as do those which are 
longer. Moreover, they strike root more quickly and grow more rapidly 
afterwards. A cold frame kept close and moist is a very good place in 
which to root the cuttings. Later, I have found it necessary to place 
them where a little heat could be given. A little air during the night 
will help to prevent mildew appearing; shading from bright sunshine is, 
of course, very necessary. Where it seems to me that most failures arise 
with such plants as Lobelias and Verbenas is not so much at the time of 
rooting as in keeping the plants healthy after they are rooted. Over¬ 
dryness is specially to be guarded against; a slightly moist state of the 
soil all through autumn and winter, and a temperature during the latter 
period sufficient to keep the plants growing, is the treatment they like. 
Pentstemons make fine bedding plants, but in order to get them large 
enough to produce a good display not a day should be lost in striking 
the cuttings ; July is the better month. We dibble the cuttings out in a 
cold frame and afterwards pot them thereafter, plunging the pots deeply 
among ashes, and protecting with a cold frame during cold weather. 
Mrs. Sutherland Walker is one of the best bedding kinds. 
When the Pelargonium cuttings are taken in September, instead of 
selecting small points, as with Verbenas, strong and large growths are 
selected. At that time the beds require thinning in order to keep damp 
away and procure a late bloom, should the autumn prove warm and 
dry. Consequently the plants are carefully thinned. These thinnings 
are then made into plants for the next year’s supply. As the men who 
thin out the shoots cut each carefully beneath a leaf joint, all that 
requires to be done in preparation is to remove a few leaves and any 
flower trusses that are showing. I have found it of great advantage to 
allow the cuttings to lie for a day or two on the floor of a shed before 
placing them into the cutting boxes. I always have old sashes ready 
to place over the boxes should wet weather set in, and during winter 
I do not object to keeping the plants growing slightly. 
As regards Violas, for the last few years I have dispensed with 
cuttings altogether. Plants divided into pieces with roots in spring 
make very good stock ; but what I like is to lift a sufficient number of 
plants in October or later—when the Calceolarias are inserted is a good 
time. These plants are then divided into single shoots with a few 
roots attached, and are planted in leaf soil with an underlayer of horse 
droppings to root into. These can be lifted in the following March. 
Calceolarias do well in the same material. I have never lifted better 
plants than those of last season. Without pricking out they were lifted 
from the place they were put in as cuttings in April, and in the end of 
June were well in bloom. I saw a number of plants during the summer, 
most of which had died. Their treatment had been a little very sandy 
soil to root in, and consequently nothing like a ball to lift with. The 
hot dry summer very soon killed them. September is a good time to 
strike cuttings of herbaceous plants. These do well in the open ground 
with a sash over them for protection.—B. 
SETTING AND STOPPING CUCUMBERS. 
Noting Mr. Taylor’s remarks cn page 44, I emphatically say now, as at 
page 530 last volume, that the cause of my failure in Cucumbers was too 
much moisture in the air and too little in the soil. I, however, should like 
to define what I mean by setting. I may be wrong, but certainly I do not 
call setting fertilisation. My Cucumbers in the same house with a west 
aspect to which my remarks refer are now a pleasant sight, a prettier lot 
of fruit I would not wish to see, but I did not fertilise one ; how could I 
when I carefully remove all male blooms before they expand ? If I am 
correct, a fruit, either Cucumber or Grape, will set and grow without 
fertilising. In the case of the Cucumber I have good useful fruit for 
market purposes, quickly grown, but never so large as the fertilised fruit. 
It is the same with the Grape. Strong growths ahead of the fruit 
will starve the embryo Cucumbers and cause them to damp ofl at the ends 1 , 
which I say is not setting. 
I must tell you all I know now I am writing. I have found it a very- 
good plan to rub the laterals out at the fruit joint. This prevents, 
much overcrowding, and I am sure strengthens the fruit. I have noticed 
beforetimes in many cases after stopping, the side or. sub-laterals rob the 
fruit and cause some to go off. Mr. Taylor is correct in stating the benefit 
of non-fertilising, the crop being much larger. What, however, I want to 
know is this—a fruit grows, it cannot be fertilised for the reason stated, 
therefore am I correct in saying this fruit is “ set?” I might state, in early 
work I believe the fertilising of, say, a few of the first fruits very beneficial, 
after then I let them please themselves. As to the question, “ Do flowers, 
exhaust plants ? ” I should say they do; the simple fact of having a 
quantity of male flowers exhaust the Cucumber plant; these would have 
a tendency to fertilise the fruit naturally—another exhausting process. 
It may not be a very great loss, which loss can be readily remedied by 
top-dressing or feeding. I hope I have made my case clear. I have not 
used the words “artificial fertilisation” until now, but this will show 
what I mean.— Stephen Castle, West Lynn. 
CULTURE OF PERPETUAL STRAWBERRIES. 
The seed should be sown as soon as it is ripe. Small seed boxes 
answer better than pots or pans, especially if covered with glass and placed 
in some shaded place. Prick out the young plants as soon as they can 
be handled, and be careful to protect them from frost. If transplanted, a 
single-light frame will be a good place for them. In June or July trans¬ 
plant them to any part of the garden where they can be attended to until 
they are large enough to plant out in beds or row*, about 6 inches from 
plant to plant, and there they may remain until they produce fruit. Select 
the best and destroy all others. For more than forty years I have made 
a point of such as had good flavour, giving preference to those which 
partook more or less of the aroma of the Hautbois or Queen Pine Apple. 
In this I am pleased to say I am allowed, if required, to make use of the 
names of several gentlemen who have honoured me with their approval- 
of the following among other varieties—1, Jet Black, flavour of the Haut¬ 
bois. 2, Universal, flavour of the Pine Apple. 3, Lady Dickson, flavour 
of the Hautbois. 4, Canon Kingsley, very aromatic. 5, Count Mataxa, 
very sweet and rich Pine Apple flavour ; excellent for preserving whole. 
6, Countess Mataxa, the richest Pine Apple flavour of any.—W. Pkestoe. 
NARTHECIUM OSSIFRAGUM. 
Men like large things. “The mighty Helvellyn” is voted a toadstool 
by the mountaineer who has stood “the most elevated man in Great 
Britain ” on snow-capped Ben Nevis, and the bens are regarded as 
molehills by him after he has tried to climb Mont Blanc. Some people 
will even despise the Alps after having seen, perhaps from afar, the- 
cloud-piercing peaks of India or America. Large empires, armies, 
navies, down to large oxen, babies, and the proverbial big Gooseberries 
have their charms for most. Into the very domain of horticulture we 
carry the idea of having something large, and grow large-bunching 
varieties of Grapes that are confessedly inferior ; Cabbages that make 
exhibition visitors gape, but which cannot be eaten without dyspepsia ; 
and large Potatoes that the very pigs despise. The cube contents of the 
Roses and Dahlias which win prizes have much to do with determining 
their position, and in the north they cannot tell you whether a Pansy is 
fit to look at or not till the foot-rule and the callipers have been applied. 
A few men are eccentric. With that few beauty is not so much a 
matter of arithmetic. Form, colouring, sweetness are what concerns 
them most, and if a plant is graceful, or even neat only, it can be enjoyed. 
If the colouring is beautiful it is admired whether big or little. To the 
eccentric few we commend the very beautiful, though little, Lancashire 
Bog Asphodel. It can only be seen in bogs. But a bog may be had 
anywhere, even on the window sill. For a bog only a hollow and plenty 
of moisture are wanted. It can be big or little according to circum¬ 
stances. We once had one some 4 yards by 2. The soil wa 3 
naturally stiff, and the miniature bog was made simply by taking out a 
few inches of the soil and filling in with very fibry turf from a peaty- 
moor. This was turned upside down, and covered with growing; 
sphagnum kept green and growing by the water which was spilt at the 
garden pump. 
In that “ bog ” we transplanted many wildings, and none that looked’ 
more beautiful than the Asphodel. Its transference from the bog cost 
little trouble. A good-sized square w as isolated by a hedge knife and 
carried off bodily. Fitted into the surface of the bed it did beautifully 
for many a year till the ground was wanted for a house. It will also, 
grow on loam kept wet, but we have never seen it so good as when grow¬ 
ing under the conditions which cause sphagnum to thrive. 
Many choice plants could be grown in such artificially created swampy 
spots. The rather strong-growing but very beautiful Menyanthes 
trifoliata does well in such, as well as the Myosotis palustris and all the 
Droseras. In favoured spots Sarracenias thrive and many Orchids, than 
which few more lovely flowers exist, small though they be. 
Such should always be constructed with one side sloping, so that 
different requirements may be met. On such slopes many of our neatest 
and smallest Ferns would thrive. Indeed, with a little labour and loving 
