JULY. 
163 
before that time it is better to lift the old plants before they are injured by the 
frost, and take cuttings from them in spring. 
When it is desirable to get a number of good plants of any particular kind, 
it is an excellent plan to put the cuttings at once into thumb-pots, and plunge 
them in a south border. By sticking a few branches in front of them in bright 
weather, and by attending carefully to the watering, &c., they will soon form 
roots, and, if shifted immediately into larger pots, they will make good plants 
before the autumn. Good-sized cuttings, put into thumb-pots the beginning of 
September, will require no shading and very little watering, and will not flag 
much unless the weather be more than usually bright at that season, but the 
heavy dews at night will prevent the cuttings from suffering ; and as the leaves 
nearly all remain healthy, roots are soon protruded from the base of the 
cuttings. By shifting at once into large pots fine plants are obtained. I have 
found cuttings of Scarlet, put in as late as the third week in September, make 
large jdants treated in this way. I have seen no method of striking “ bedding” 
Geraniums at this season better than those above detailed, and they are so 
inexpensive and simple as to be within the means of the humblest amateur 
gardener. Plants struck in the open air, and well established, are kept easier 
during the winter than those struck under glass. If kept tolerably dry, and 
by giving them plenty of air whenever the weather admits, they may be safely 
wintered in a pit or frame if they are properly covered in frosty weather. I 
do not, however, recommend a low temperature for them ; quite the contrary. 
When it can conveniently be had, I prefer—and I recommend—the whole 
stock of “ bedding” Geraniums to be kept in a nice healthy dry atmosphere, 
where the night temperature is rarely below 45°—indeed, for Mrs. Pollock, 
Sunset, Golden Chain, and many of the other more delicate sorts, I believe 
this is indispensably necessary, if we wish to have fine healthy plants ; and, 
unless this class of plants are healthy and good, it is better not to attempt to 
grow them at all. By keeping the variegated ones, particularly the new kinds 
which it may be desirable to increase, growing through the winter, a stock of 
good cuttings can be obtained early in spring, which, if put into sandy soil, 
and giving them a little bottom heat, will soon root, and, by shifting and atten¬ 
tion in watering, &c., they will make good plants by the middle of May. 
It is rarely that all the old plants of Scarlet are lifted in the autumn, con¬ 
sequently a great number of cuttings can be had before destroyed by the frost. 
As it is a pity to w r aste what may be useful, these should be put into pots or 
boxes, using rather sandy soil; and, if kept dry, they will root either on the 
shelves or floor of a cold vinery or greenhouse, or on the pipes or shelves in 
the Pine-stove. In either case the great danger to be apprehended is from 
moisture. I have seen quantities of such cuttings rooted and kept alive by 
cottagers in their windows. As there is no other class of “bedding” plants 
which give so much brilliancy and effect to our garden, and that for so long a 
time, we must not let a single opportunity we have of getting and putting in 
cuttings pass by until we are satisfied we have enough and to spare. 
Stourton. M. Saul. 
ABIES ALBERTIANA. 
This highly-interesting variety of Hemlock Spruce is, I find, worthy of 
being recommended for general cultivation, from its hardiness and beauty of 
habit. I had the seed first under the name of Abies Mertensiana, and having 
raised a quantity of young plants, they were kept in pots till the spring of 1862, 
when they were planted out in rows in a border. In the past season they have 
made growths 2 feet 2 inches in length, and the habit of the plant is extremely 
