520 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 11,1834. 
pots above mentioned, and -which in the end do not repay ns half 
so well for our labour. Take, for instance, the old Linum 
trigyuum—a great favourite in many places for winter work. 
Cuttings must be struck in March at the latest if good plants 
are wanted, afterwards repotted and syringed regularly twice 
every day through the summer months if their greatest enemy, 
red spider, is to be kept down, and then they must have a house 
with an intermediate temperature if they are to continue flowering. 
On the other hand, we can begin to cultivate these small Chrys¬ 
anthemums in July (or August in the southern counties), and 
you have them in perfection from September to Christmas, 
since we have the invaluable Madame C. Desgranges to begin 
and Fair Maid of Guernsey and others to close the season with. 
As the Journal has doubtless gained many young readers 
since the time mentioned, I will give a few details of my practice, 
hoping to induce others to follow the plan. Old plants or spare 
young ones are planted out as soon as it may be considered safe 
in any moderately good ground, where they will as a rule take 
care of themselves until the time comes for ta,king the cuttings, 
and here in the north I think the second or third week in July 
late enough, probably the first week in August maybe early 
enough in the south. We then set a frame apart for the purpose 
of striking the cuttings in. If a slight hotbed can be made so 
much the better. Everything is prepared beforehand, so that 
there will be as little- delay as possible in placing the cuttings in 
the pots. We giv'e them a thorough watering, plunging them 
in the frame, which is kept close and shaded for about a fortnight, 
by which time it will be found that many of the cuttmgs have 
formed roots, and may be gradually hardened off and pliiteed in a 
sunny position, on a hard gi’ound out of doors. 
From the time these cuttings are taken until the last bloom 
is expanded they must not be neglected in anyway; watering, in 
particular, must at all times be most carefully attended to. 
Mildew, too, is very apt to make its appearance and must be 
checked at ^once. Unless the under sides of the leaves are 
examined the cultivator may be in blissful ignorance as to the 
presence of this parasite, which may be working so much hai’m 
to his plants. As to varieties, there are numbers that are 
suitable for this mode of treatment; but as a rule when the 
■incurved and Japanese varieties are used I would, in nearly all 
cases, recommend the crown bud to be taken, or, if lost, to reduce 
the terminal buds to one, and the cultivator will be rewarded 
v.uth blooms better than are often seen on plants which have 
been growing in their pots three times as long. As a r.ile I place 
three or five cuttings in a j)ot (1 like five in a. 5-inch pot); but of 
course each grower will have his special requirements and dif¬ 
ferent sized vases to fill. I am also very fond of one good cutting 
■ struck in a 3-inch pot and shifted intoao-inch pot. The invaluable 
Lady Selborne looks grand amongst scarlet Pelargoniums, Bou- 
vardias, &c., when grown thus singly; but of whites for this 
purpose I know of nothing equal to Sceur Melanie. A potful of 
’this, with from twelve to fifteen blooms, and healthy foliage 
covering the rim of the pot, the whole not being more than 
18 inches high, is fit for almost any purpose and cannot fail to be 
admired. Of course the Cedo Nullis and any of the Pompons 
may be used, and for later work I have found amongst incurved 
Hero of Stoke Newington and Princess Teck especially useful. 
Dr. Macary amongst Japanese strikes me as being well adapted 
for the single pots; its sturdy growth and good Howers would make 
un impression when mixed with other subjects. Especially are 
these litt'e plants valuable for grouping, their heads of flower 
standing so well above the groundwork of Maidenhair, &c., 
beneath. 
As regards the soil and manure used, I do not think that these 
matter so much, it is the unremitting care and attention that are 
needed. I always like to employ good loam and decayed manure 
or leaf soil, with a little of Olay’s or Standen’s manures. Very 
much may be done, too, by not filling the pots too full at the 
time of putting in the cuttings and adding a rich surface dressing 
after the buds are set; of course some stimulant is needed almost 
daily after this stage has been reached. Anyone who has not 
tried this plan will, I feel sure, be well repaid after giving it even 
a first trial. Here, in future, they will be grown much more 
largely than ever.—W. Jenkins, Durham. 
THE PEOPAGATION OF SMALL FEUITS. 
Under this heading we place Gooseberries, Red, White and 
Black Currants, and Raspberries. Young plants of all of them may 
be bought very cheaply in all good nurseries, and many may think 
they can be bought so cheaply that it would be unprofitable to propa¬ 
gate them, and this may be correct in numerous instances, but young 
plants in stock are often very useful. Few would care to buy in 
more pdants than were required for the principal quarters, but when 
they are propagated at home many of them may be planted in 
corners and places which would otherwise remain unoccupied. Many 
will experience real pleasure, too, in rearing their own fruit bushes, 
and amateurs especially will alwaj'^s feel a pride in seeing and calling 
their friends’ attention to “ their own ” Gooseberries and Currants. 
Our practice is to insert a batch of cuttings of each every winter, 
and we have always a good lot of young bushes to fill up "where re¬ 
quired, or to give away to cottagers. 
Gooseberries and Currants are propagated in the same way. The 
cuttings of both should be selected at pruning time. Only the, best 
varieties should be increased, the pruning not being done before 
the cuttings have been taken. Some may be inclined to prune all 
their bushes, and then pick up what pieces they want for cuttings, 
but we prefer going over the bushes just before pruning begins, and 
cutting off all the shoots wanted for propagating. There is no danger 
of their getting mixed when this is done, and the very best can always 
be taken. Strong clean shoots of this year’s growth are the best ^or 
cuttings. They should be upwards of 1 foot in length, and as each 
variety is taken off thej’’ should be tied together, named, and then put 
into the soil with the cut ends about 3 inches below the surface. 
Here they may remain for a time or until they can be conveniently 
made and put into their rooting quarters ; this may be any time from 
now until the beginning of March. In making the cuttings the ends 
should be cut neatly, then take the buds off three parts of the length 
up, leaving only half a dozen at the top. These will grow and form 
the heads. Where very tall-stemmed plants are wanted the cuttings 
may be made longer, but very fine bushes can be formed of cuttings 
12 inches in length when these will be 3 inches below the soil to root, 
6 inches of a stem and 3 inches of buds on the top to forni the head. 
When made they may at once be inserted for rooting. Light sand}' 
soil is the best for them ; they should be placed in rows, the cuttings 
being from 4 to 6 inches apart, and 15 inches from row 
The ground for their reception may be dug over first, and then dibble 
the cuttings in and make them very firm, as they root better and 
quicker when firmly put in the soil. Treated in this way a few may 
fail, but the majority will grow and form fruitful bushes in two or 
three years. . 
Young Black Currant bushes can often be secured by taking oft 
the sucker-like growths which spring from the roots of the old plants, 
but the prettiest formed and cleanest stemmed bushes are generally 
those propagated from cuttings. I have included Raspberries amongst 
the fruits to be propagated, hut I ought to say this is not readily or 
profitably done from cuttings, the best way being to take the young 
plants from the side growths. Throughout the summer all healthy 
Raspberry plants produce many smaller ones in the form of suckers 
from the roots, and as each of these have roots with stems 18 inches 
or 2 feet in height, they make capital plants to form young planta¬ 
tions with, and the strongest of them very often bear fruit the first 
season after planting. They may be taken off any lime during the 
winter and placed in their growing quarters without any preparation. 
Raspberries delight in a rich soil, and there is no fruit-bearing plant 
which will do so well or prove so profitable in a cool soil and shady 
position.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
METEOKOLOGY—THE EAINFALL. 
Having for the last several years kept a daily record of a few 
simple meteorological observations, indicated by instruments 
placed on my own grounds at Reigate, I have felt an interest in 
comparing the amount of rainfall 1 have registered during -the 
past eleven months with that of the like period in the preceding 
year, 1883. The following table of results may probably interest 
some few of your readers ;— 
1883. 
loch. 
January .. 3'04 
February . 4-45 
March . 101 
April. 1-32 
May . 102 
•June . 2 (12 
July . 2 93 
August. l'2r) 
September . 4'58 
October. 2'73 
November. 4’55 
80-40 
1884. 
Inch. 
January . 3 0G 
February. 2 09 
March . 1'92 
April. 1'5G 
May . 0’53 
June . 1'77 
July . 1'49 
August. 107 
September . 2-89 
October. 1’44 
November. 1-67 
1949 
It will be seen that the difference in quantity of rainfall is 
great, and in our light soil the long continuance of drought Las, 
no doubt, shortened the life of many plants. I am persuaded 
that in many parts of the country the want of rain has been 
serious. ^ Different districts we know will vary considerably in 
the amount of rainfall they get, but taking the kingdom througb- 
out, the year must, I think, be found much below the average in 
