52 
BEDDING PLANTS. 
upon many who deserve better fortune, and lessen the unmitigated 
mortification of meagrely-filled flower-beds. In the ordinary 
course of propagating bedding plants, where the conveniences 
are no more than those described, the custom is to take the 
cuttings from the plants in the greenhouse, prepare and pot them, 
and at once clap them into heat, which, if designed for the growth 
of cucumbers or such plants, is never less than 7 0°; this sudden 
and very great increase of temperature is more than the cuttings 
will bear; they become etiolated, drop their leaves, and, in thou¬ 
sands of cases, die. Another condition, equally important, is 
overlooked; in the greenhouse they are growing in a compara¬ 
tively dry atmosphere, from thence they are taken, deprived of 
their ordinary means of absorbing moisture—the roots, and being 
stuck into soil containing but little water, are at once immersed 
in an atmosphere of floating vapour ; the system of the severed 
pieces being drained of much they previously contained by the 
act of separation, can offer no opposition to the rush of moisture 
into the pores or stomata of the leaves, and thus an unnatural 
current of watery matter is directed through them, till the dis¬ 
ruption of these pores stays the circulation, and then the accu¬ 
mulated and stagnant moisture on the exterior becomes evident 
in the forms of mildew and “ fogging,” the fatal effects of either 
requiring no description. In such cases we must employ like to 
repel like, and hence the principle of the mode I am about to 
explain. We cannot always improve or alter the means provided 
for our work, but we may do much towards rendering them 
effective by the judicious preparation of the subjects to be 
operated on. 
It must be borne in mind that the class of plants commonly 
denominated “ bedding,” are distinguished by an entire or partial 
herbaceous character; they are <£ soft-wooded,” and consequently 
very susceptible of injury by the rupture of their vessels ; at the 
same time, they are remarkable for the facility with which they 
accommodate themselves to surrounding circumstances, and so 
long as extremes are avoided, may be managed with the greatest 
ease; taking advantage of this, we should, before removing the 
cuttings, accustom them to an elevated temperature, by placing 
the entire plant in a warmer place than that in which it has 
hitherto been growing; a week in a close frame without artificial 
