390 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 30, 1884, 
Boreale, two varieties of crimson yellow, which do not appear to be 
quite so large nor likely to prove so useful for show purposes as the 
others ; M. Cochet, a very light variety. —A Lambeth Amateur. 
STKIKING CUTTINGS IN WATER. 
This method is an old one. I first saw it practised by a gardener 
thirty-five years ago, and the only two plants operated on were Cucumbers 
and Oleanders, the former for raising plants for growing in pots for a 
winter supply of fruit, and the Oleanders with buds set so as to have 
dwarf plants in pots for placing in boudoirs, as they were then much 
osteemed. Table and other decorations since then have necessitated the 
rearing of a number of plants large in head and small in size of pots, 
well furnished to the base, and as characteristic in the foliage and colour 
ns they attain in specimens. We want a plant now in a 3-inch as large 
and as well furnished as were formerly had in one twice the size, and if 
it be one valued for its foliage it must have the marking as decided and 
clear as possible. To secure this a practice has obtained of taking much 
larger cuttings, and from parts that possessed the characteristics of the 
subject in the highest degree. To effect their speedy rooting and retain 
the foliage, close propagating houses, or frames, or handlights within 
houses, are resorted to ; indeed so great is the demand for small plants 
in most establishments, that a propagating house is employed to main¬ 
tain a supply. Even with these appliances the cuttings will lose their 
lower leaves, and the growth they make whilst rooting is not so good in 
colour or in growth as that of the cutting when detached, and some time 
must elapse after rooting before it is in a condition to be effective for the 
purpose intended. To attain the desired object various experiments have 
been resorted to with many plants, notably Crotons, Dracsenas, &c.—viz., 
notching a well-coloured growth on a Croton or Dracaena immediately 
below a joint, or at two joints on opposite sides, and covering with moss 
and a ligature of copper wire to keep it in position, which kept constantly 
•wet induced roots to form and permeate the moss. Another plan was to 
cut a notch, and instead of covering it with moss break a small pot in 
halves, and fix it so to enclose the noti hed part in the pot, which filled 
with rough peat or cocoa-nut fibre refuse, and kept moist, resulted in 
roots being formed in about six weeks sufficient to cater for the plant, as 
it were, when detached. The pot was held in position by stakes and 
copper wire, the hole being enlarged to admit the stem of the cutting 
below the notch. Both these plans are good and applicable to many 
plants besides Crotons and Dractenas, and may be practised with some 
that are difficult to propagate from cuttings through their being slow 
rooting, and possess the advantage over detached cuttings in not re¬ 
quiring shading, or anything different from the general treatment of the 
•parent plants. It has the disadvantage, as compared with those detached 
and struck in water, of being somewhat awkward-looking until the parts 
operated on are rooted and detached, and it has another where stock is a 
consideration, that a cutting detached at once will cause the parent to 
push fresh growth and afford other cuttings by the time the layered ones 
■are rooted. 
Striking cuttings in water is a very simple and certain operation. 
All that is needed is some clear rain water, some pieces of charcoal, and 
some clean bottles ; pint champagne bottles are as good as any, but others 
with flat bottoms will do. Place in each a few pieces of charcoal about 
the size of a walnut, then fill the bottles with water, and stand where 
you intend them to be whilst the cuttings are rooting, which is best where 
they will be shaded from the direct rays of the sun. When the 
bottles have been in the house twenty-four hours, by which time the 
water will have become warmed to the mean temperature of the house, 
take the cuttings prepared as if they were to be inserted in soil, cut 
transversely below a joint, and remove only as many leaves as will allow 
■of the stem being put in the bottles to the extent of a couple of inches, 
or at most three. The base of the cuttings should be in the water, and 
be covered about half an inch, which will be suitable for the first week, 
hut in the second the cutting may be pushed lower into the water, yet 
never deeper than an inch. No shading is necessary, or anything different 
from that in which the parent plants are grown, and the little attention 
needed is to keep the bottles replenished with tepid water as needed, and 
in due course roots will be emitted plentifully, and when they have grown 
so as to be of a length and quantity that can be placed in a 3-inch pot, 
remove and pot at once. Just a little shade may be needed until the 
ipotting is recovered from, and the plants in a few days are as good as ever 
they will be for decorative purposes, provided, of course, they were in 
.good condition to begin with, but if small they may need growing. 
This mode of propagation may be practised at any time of year. All 
*that is necessary in the ca^e of Crotons and Dracrenas is to secure a little 
dirm wood to the base of the cuttings, and not put them in when they are 
making young growth. 
How many other plants can be propagated in the same way I am not 
prepared to state, but I have no doubt that many could be so increased. 
It is a most interesting mode of propagation, and well deserving 
of more attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it.—G-. A. 
PLANTING RASPBERRIES. 
This is no new subject in the pages of the Journal. It has been well 
treated by some of your very able correspondents ; yet as time brings 
new readers it m.ay perhaps not be out of place to again allude to it as a 
reminder to those who intend planting that the season for preparation is 
at hand. Briefly, then, I will give the mode of procedure which has 
resulted in canes, some 7 feet, the majority 6 feet long, from ordinary 
nursery canes planted on the 8th of November last. 
The ground intended for the Raspberries had been occupied between six 
or seven years with Strawberries, and unfortunately was overrun with 
Bindweed, with roots long enough for shoe-strings. To exterminate 
this it was evident more than ordinary care in trenching was necessary. 
The soil is a medium-textured loam, about 18 inches deep, on a gravelly 
sub-ioil. Commencing at one corner an opening was made down to the 
gravel, then with forks the soil was worked forward in very small 
quantities, thoroughly dividing it to get out every portion of the roots. 
By this means the whole body of soil was thoroughly incorporated 
together and rendered open, which has conduced very materially to the 
success of the canes. 
After being thus trenched the ground was again levelled, and other 
trenches opened 5 feet apart, 18 inches wide, and about 9 inches deep, 
into which 4 or 5 inches thick of well-decayed manure was placed, 
covered slightly with soil, and then the canes planted 18 inches apart. 
A wire trellis was put up consisting of three wires 1^ foot, 3 feet, and 
4^ feet respectively from the ground, to which the canes were tied, and 
were then mulched with dry litter. The foliage was still green when 
the plants were received from Messrs. Smith & Co. of Worcester. This 
was carefully preserved until it fell naturally, when the canes were 
pruned to the lowest wire. 
Their culture since has consisted in a good mulching of short grass 
from the lawn, and securing the young canes to the trellis as they grew. 
I can look with pleasure now upon the 65 yards of trellis well clothed 
with these sturdy canes with great hopes as to what I expect to get from 
them after such a favourable season to ripen them. The variety is the 
Red Antwerp.—J. Copson, Down AmjJney. 
PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA. 
The genus Phoenix is distributed over northern Africa and tropical 
Asia, although one or two species seem to have strayed from their 
original home, being found in south-eastern Africa. All the species 
have long pinnate foliage, the lower pinnae in some of the species being 
reduced to mere stout spines. Some have tall and stout stems, whilst 
others are dwarf, and in some instances stemless. The plant under 
consideration belongs to the arborescent section, and although numerous 
varieties are distinguished by the Arabs, and each named after some 
peculiarity, in every case it is a tall handsome tree, attaining a height of 
from 50 to 80 feet, bearing an immense quantity of nutritious fruit, and 
yielding most of the articles of life necessary to the Arabs and their 
domestic animals. 
Stating the height which Palms and various other tropical trees attain 
often has the effect of deterring many from commencing their culture. 
This is because they imagine they cannot accommodate them, quite for¬ 
getting that under cultivation it frequently takes very many years before 
the plants reach their greatest altitude. And so it is in this case. When 
about three years old the Date Palm is an elegant plant for the dinner 
table, and the remarks it excites among the guests upon its products and 
their application might conduce considerably to the entertainment of a 
number of intelligent persons. Then for an amateur who desires a good 
window plant here is Phoenix dactylifera, which will grow and thrive in 
a sitting-room, and will always have a cheerful effect. As it increases 
in size our fair readers may wish to have it removed for something 
smaller, but it by no means follows that the plant must be discarded. 
It will form a magnificent ornament for the hall or the landing upon the 
top of the staircase during the winter months, and in summer it may be 
planted, or rather plunged, out of doors in the garden, either as a single 
specimen on the lawn or as the centre of a group of broad-foliaged 
plants, in which positions it will be at home, and very much enhance the 
tropical appearance of the summer garden. We must, nevertheless, not 
ignore its beauties as an indoor plant, for if grown in a stove it affords 
a pleasing contrast to other subjects—those having gay flowers or those 
whose chief attraction is the ornamental character of their leaves ; and 
when well grown it is a telling plant either in a collection of Palms or a 
mixed collection of stove and greenhouse plants. 
Much more could be said respecting this most interesting Palm, but 
we may conclude this brief summary with a few remarks upon its culti¬ 
vation, and this to anyone having a little acquaintance with plants will 
be found of the simplest character. The soil we prefer for potting is 
half loam and peat with a liberal allowance of sand, and if a little fine 
cocoa-nut fibre refuse can be added it will materially encourage the 
roots. Soil such as that described, good drainage, plenty of water, and 
stove heat are the leading features of the system adopted with Date 
Palms until they are about three years old, at which time they should 
have assumed their normal state and be neat little plants, with several 
of their distinct-looking pinnate leaves fully developed. Some may 
