262 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
stiff, thick paper to answer a good purpose. 
Remove the earth an inch or two around the 
collar, theD hind on the cloth or paper with a 
string. We have seen fine, thrifty young apple- 
trees, worth five dollars apiece, destroyed for the 
want of a half hour’s attention in the spring. 
The European Daisy. 
The Daisy is a plant so commonly referred 
to in English poetry and literature that it seems 
a great pity that it should be of difficult culti¬ 
vation in this country. There are many who 
suppose our common Ox-eye Daisy or White- 
weed to he the same as the plant so frequently 
referred to by European writers. Two plants 
of the same family can hardly be more unlike 
than the Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) 
of our meadows and the European or English 
Daisy (Beilis perennis ), which while it often 
appears as a weed in English lawns, is never¬ 
theless in its cultivated forms a charming 
flower. In its wild state the proper Daisy has 
a yellow disk or center surrounded with white 
or pinkish ray florets, but in cultivation the 
disk disappears, the florets are all like those of 
the ray. There are two obstacles to its general 
cultivation in this country: our summers are 
too hot and our winters are too cold for it, and 
it, like the Polyanthus, Auricula, and similar 
plants, can only be successfully grown by 
treating it as a frame plant and giving it pro¬ 
tection from extremes of temperature. Con¬ 
siderable quantities are sold in our city markets 
every spring, in pots, and forced into early 
flower. These are especially attractive to 
English and other Europeans, who gladly pur¬ 
chase a plant that reminds them of home, but 
their purchases, if the plants are set in the 
open ground, can only result in disappointment. 
The Daisy is readily raised from seed, which 
will give a portion of double flowers. The 
seeds should be sown in a slight heat, and the 
young plants potted off and kept in a shaded 
frame in summer, and in winter be plunged in 
coal-ashes in the frame and kept from severe 
frosts. It is easily multiplied by division of 
the clumps. One rorm of the plant,-known as 
the “ Hen and Chickens,” has the flower-head 
surrounded by a ring of smaller heads which 
are produced from just beneath it. Within 
a few years several choice varieties have 
been produced, which in England play an 
important part in the decoration of borders 
in spring; there is a great variety in the 
size of the flowers, as well as in their col¬ 
ors, which range from pure white to bright 
crimson; besides this there are some with the 
foliage handsomely marked with spots, like the 
leaves of Aucuba, and are called Aucubsefolia, 
there being both white and red flowered kinds 
with marked leaves. One of the finest daisies 
we have ever seen was left at our office in April 
last by Mr. J. T. Lovett, who is with A. Hance 
& Sons, nurserymen and florists, Red Bank, 
N. J. This was received from England as 
‘ ‘ Queen Victoria,” and is truly a queen among 
daisies. It is a strong-growing plant, and a 
most abundant bloomer, producing flower- 
heads an inch and a half across. The florets 
are of a bright carmine on the outside and 
white within; a part are completely quilled, or 
tubular, and others are flat, and the contrast 
between the two surfaces produces a pleasing 
variegation. If we can not enjoy the daisies as 
hardy border plants, there are some, such as 
the one referred to, eminently worthy of being 
cultivated for greenhouse decoration. 
How to Propagate Roses from Cuttings. 
BY W. F. MASSEY, CHESTERTOWN, MD. 
[There is no plant that the amateur more de¬ 
sires to propagate than the rose, and there is 
none with which he more frequently fails. 
The majority of roses offered for sale by florists 
are propagated in spring from cuttings taken 
from potted plants which are started into 
growth for the purpose. Another method is 
to take off cuttings of ripened wood in October 
and set them in a frame where they will be 
protected from severe cold weather; by spring 
the majority of the cuttings will be found to be 
callused, if not rooted. The method given in 
the following article is not generally known, 
and will be acceptable to many. The author 
is of the firm of Massey & Hudson, Chester- 
town, Md., wffio make a specialty of furnishing 
roses at cheap rates. They this spring sent us 
some specimens of the stock they grow in the 
manner here described, and we have seen no 
finer and more healthy young roses from any 
place. —Ed.] 
The best time to commence the propagation 
of Roses, especially the everblooming sorts, is 
about the last of August. The best cuttings 
are taken from plants which have been grown 
in beds under shaded glass during the summer, 
but if the weather is moist, and the plants out 
of doors are in a vigorous state of growth, as 
good cuttings can be procured from the open 
border as from plants under glass. 
Prepare a bed of clean, coarse sand, not less 
than four inches deep, either on the benches of 
a greenhouse or in a cold-frame out of doors. 
The cuttings will do as well in the one place as 
the other, but if a greenhouse is available the 
bed ■will be more convenient to work at. This 
sand bed is then to be soaked with water, and 
never afterward allowed to get dry. For cut¬ 
tings, select shoots not more than a week or so 
old. The slender, wiry shoots of the monthly 
roses which just begin to show a blossom bud 
are the best. Avoid the rank, pithy j-oung 
shoots which ^frequently sprout from the base 
of the bushes; these will root, but not so readily 
as the more slender shoots, nor do they make 
so good plants. Cut off the soft tip of the 
shoot, and divide the remainder into cuttings 
of not less than two eyes. The top of the 
cutting should be cut at least three fourths of 
an inch above an eye, and the leaf at this eye 
should remain on; the base of the cutting 
should be about a half inch below the second 
or third eye, the leaves from which should be 
stripped off. If the wood buds in the axils of 
the leaves on the lower part of the shoot are 
fully developed, it is an indication that the 
wood at that point is too ripe to take root 
easily, and should not be used unless cuttings 
are very scarce. In short, the cuttings must 
not be so soft as to present no -woody fiber in 
cutting, neither must the wood be hard; a little 
experience w-ill soon indicate to a close observer 
the exact state which is best. 
Having your cuttings all prepared and your 
sand bed ready, take an old knife or a piece of 
hoop iron and, using a lath or other straight 
edge as a ruler, cut a line at the end of the bed 
across the sand, going completely to the bot¬ 
tom. In this line or groove set the cuttiugs 
nearly up to the leaf at the top and about half 
an inch from each other in the row. Turn the 
leaves of the cuttings all in one direction, so as 
to be out of the way in setting the next row, 
and also to present a neat appearance. When 
the first row is filled, press the sand tightly to¬ 
ward the row, and about three inches from this 
first make a second row and fill it in with cut¬ 
tings in the same manner, turning all the leaves 
toward the first-.row. Proceed in this way 
until the bed is filled or your cuttings ex¬ 
hausted, then sprinkle the bed thoroughly with 
clear water. The glass over the bed must be 
shaded with a thick coat of whitewash, and 
the house or frame kept quite close. If in a 
cold-frame, the sashes may be slipped down an 
inch or so at the top during the heat of the day. 
The frames should slope north, and not south 
as usual. If the bed is in a greenhouse there 
should not be any ventilation given overhead ; 
a little air from the doors or side ventilators is 
sufficient. If the thermometer rises during the 
day to 100° or over, it will not hurt if the bed 
is kept watered and the house moist and shady. 
The cuttings will be rooted sufficiently to pot 
in about four weeks, and the process of propa¬ 
gation may be continued as late as good cut¬ 
tings can be had from the open ground, pro¬ 
vided some means is at hand for heating the 
bed when the weather grows colder. When 
rooted, pot off into 21-inch pots, using decom¬ 
posed sods and woods-mold in about equal 
parts with a very small portion of well-rotted 
manure. Water thoroughly and keep shaded 
until they start to grow. When well estab¬ 
lished in the pots, plunge them in a cold-frame 
or pit for the winter and protect from freezing. 
In spring plant out where they are intended to 
flower. If wanted for sale in spring, shift 
them into three-inch pots in January and place 
them in a greenhouse where the night temper¬ 
ature does not exceed 50°, and by the last of 
April most of the everblooming sorts will show 
flowers and make fine plants for the market. 
This method cf propagation is more especially 
applicable to the tender varieties such as Teas, 
Noisettes, Bengal, and Bourbon, as the wood 
of these sorts is usually in the proper condition 
in autumn, but any roses can be rooted in the 
same way if shoots can be had of the proper 
age. During the past fall the writer has pro¬ 
pagated thousands of Moss roses in this way, 
which he was enabled to do by the favorable 
weather which kept the plants in vigorous 
growth. Moss-rose cuttings should be almost 
as tender as the green shoot of a scarlet gera¬ 
nium. In this condition we never have any 
difficulty in rooting them. The above method 
can be'used by almost any one, while the pro¬ 
pagation of roses during winter and spring can 
only be practiced by florists who have houses 
adapted to the purpose. 
About Pickles. 
A farmer sees that a jar of pickles sells at the 
village store for fifty cents ; he knows that he 
can raise the quart of cucumbers it contains for 
a very few cents, and estimating the cost of 
vinegar, bottle, and putting up at a liberal fig¬ 
ure, he finds that there must be to some one at 
least thirty cents profit upon each jar that is 
sold. He thinks here is a chance for a profit¬ 
able undertaking; he has the land and knows 
he can raise the cucumbers, which in his eyes 
is the main thing, and he writes to his agricul¬ 
tural paper to know all about putting up such 
pickles as are sold in the stores. The fact is 
that the cucumbers, while they are the princi¬ 
pal thing to' the consumer, are but a small part 
of the investment of the pickle-maker. It is 
probable that if one of our farmer friends who 
have an idea of pickle-making could have bot¬ 
tles, vinegar, and all other necessary materials 
