342 
THE FLORIST. 
Day, 50 Alma, 50 Mountain of Snow, 200 Lady Plymouth, and 50 
General Pelissier Geraniums, making altogether 2150 plants when 
potted up from the ground, and, I may say, as fine stocky stuff as one 
need to see. I can safely say, on the whole, I never lost more than 
about 30 or 40 plants, and that was chiefly owing to the worms pulling 
them out of the ground, chiefly round the outside of the bed. Last year 
1 was very much troubled by the worms working in my cuttings, but 
this season, by putting the lime rubbish under them, I got over this 
difficulty. I have heard a great many say this year that Lady Plymouth 
Geranium is a difficult one to strike, but here I will tell you how to get 
over this difficulty. First of all procure a quantity of Moss from any 
old bank or elsewhere ; dry it in an open shed, then take and put it in 
an oven. After you have done baking, that is, after the bread is drawn 
out, let it remain all night; take it carefully out the next morning, 
and put it in a box or basket; take it to the prepared piece of ground 
in the garden, then draw'a drill with a hoe three inches deep, then get 
your baked Moss and crumble it to powder, and sow it along the drill; 
then rake the soil over it, and dibble your cuttings along the place where 
the Moss is, and depend upon it they will grow freely; in fact, any of 
the delicate variegated kinds will be benefited by so doing. Those who 
have never made use of this material should give it a trial; with Begonias, 
Achimenes, and Calceolarias, in the spring of the year, it is a fine thing 
as a substitute for peat, where you have not that description of soil at 
your command. But I must not dwell longer on this, but will at once 
return to the rest of my propagations. All the other kinds of Geraniums 
I propagate in shallow boxes, on a south border, or in pots, always 
allowing them to receive the full power of the sun, never shading by 
any means. I have had them withered down so that one would think 
it was impossible for them ever to recover, but these strike as quick as 
any. I have had Golden Chain Geraniums rooted in 10 days from the 
time they were put in the open air, I could easily have propagated 1000 
more if I had wanted them by bedding out time. My Verbenas I put in 
pots or boxes, under hand-glasses, in the open air ; in short, 1 have done 
away with nearly all my frame sti iking, as I find I can strike nearly 
everything in the open air with a little attention. Geraniums, Verbenas, 
Calceolarias, Petunias, Nierembergias, Buchneria, Lobelia, Alyssum, 
and, in short, almost everything can be done in this way. The Verbena 
venosa is a very useful plant in the garden ; it can be used in so many 
different ways. Those who wish to get a stock of these will find no 
difficulty whatever in procuring a good stock by treating them as follows: 
—In the first place get a few old plants, say half a dozen old ones, from 
the ground; put them in a large pot, and place them under the stage 
in the greenhouse, and there let them remain until February or March ; 
then shake them out of the pot, and cut the long mint-like roots in as 
many pieces as possible, taking care there is an eye to every bit; then 
put them in pans or pots as thick as you can put them; then cover 
them over with a little soil, and set them in a gentle hotbed, and in 
the course of three weeks you will have a host of plants. As most of 
the bits will send up two shoots, in a short time you will be able to top 
them and put the cuttings in and you may top again if you have not 
