HYDRANGEA. 
53 
nary course of its management must then be looked to for an 
explanation of the grievous disappointment so often felt in the 
absence of flower-heads. But that I may not be in the position 
of those who find fault without offering a remedy, allow me to 
give the outlines of a method that has proved eminently suc¬ 
cessful. 
Generally speaking, Hydrangeas, like Cockscombs, are es¬ 
teemed according to the size of the head borne on a single stem, 
and the more dwarf they can be had, the greater the credit at¬ 
tached to their production. It is of such plants I intend to speak ; 
for, when allowed to bear numerous heads of flowers, the manage¬ 
ment becomes of far less consequence, the plants being left 
without other attention than a repotting once a year, but little 
skill being required in their culture and less merit attached to 
the ultimate result. The first point of consequence is the selec¬ 
tion of cuttings, and on it a great deal of the future success must 
depend. Unless they are strong shoots, but little chance will 
exist of their forming fine plants ; no cutting, when taken from 
the plant, should be less in circumference than a good-sized quill, 
or about three fourths of an inch, with a vigorous plump bud at 
the point. They should be taken early in August, that plenty of 
time may be left for their establishment before the winter. The 
best mode of striking is to insert each cutting in a sixty-sized 
pot filled with loam and leaf-mould in equal quantities, with suf¬ 
ficient sand about the top to assist the protruding of the roots. 
A cold frame, kept close and shaded, is perhaps the best position 
for them till they are thoroughly furnished with roots; after 
which a sheltered part of the garden should receive the plants 
till the beginning of October, when it becomes necessary to re¬ 
move them to a pit or the greenhouse. 
According to the time they are desired to bloom, so their 
future management must be regulated. If intended to be forced 
so as to begin flowering in March, they should be repotted into 
thirty-twos in January, and placed in a heat not exceeding 50°, 
near to the light; and, as they advance, should be liberally sup¬ 
plied with water. By deferring the repotting and subsequent 
treatment the flowering may be removed on in a regularly pro¬ 
gressive manner, till in April they will not require artificial heat 
at all, the power of the sun then being sufficient. 
