EXTRACTS—FLORICULTURE. 
39 
Culture of the Ranunculus parnassifolius. —This plant is rather 
scarce on account of its being so subject to the attacks of snails and slugs in the 
spring months. Mr. Menzies, gardener at Hope House, near Halifax, has of 
late years made use of a guard similar in construction to our “ Bygrave Plant 
Preserver,” (figured and described in volume 1, page 151) 14 inches diameter 
and 6 inches deep, kept well filled with water. The soil is composed of equal 
parts of hazelly loam, vegetable mould and peat; in this the plants grow very 
luxuriantly and throw up flower stems, from ten to twelve inches high. They 
are propogated by seeds. The guards which surround them should be covered 
in winter with leaves to prevent the frost from breaking them.— Card. Mag .— 
As these plants are generally grown in beds we should conceive the “ Bygrave 
Slug Preventer” filled with salt, figured page 445, would prove the best guard 
against all crawling enemies, as it could be fixed round the bed with but little 
trouble.— Conductors. 
To Propogate Cape Heaths. —In the month of April, or as soon as the 
young shoots are about an inch long, take off the cuttings, handle them in the 
operation as delicately as possible. Cut them off with a keen knife close to 
where they join the old wood, and put them in a pan of water until you have a 
sufficient number to fill up the pot, then fill a suitable sized pot, nearly two- 
thirds with the siftings of peat, and the remainder with peat, verj r finely sifted, 
and press it down moderately. After pressing the striking glass on the mould, 
in order to get the line of its circumference proceed with a dibber about the 
size of a small quill, to plant the cuttings; let this be done carefully, without 
pressing them much. The pot being filled with cuttings, water them, standing at 
some distance, with a very finely perforated syringe, elevated so far a. to let the 
water descend on them like a gentle shower of rain; repeat it till the whole soil 
is saturated, then set the glass over them and place the pot in front of the green¬ 
house. Give a gentle syringing every morning for the first three weeks, and 
afterwards every other morning, for about three weeks more. In about six weeks 
many of the cuttings will be struck, when they must be supplied with less water. 
In about ten weeks many of them will require potting off Put them in thumb 
pots and set them under a hand-glass, or in a cold frame, in a shady situation, 
and gradually harden them by giving air, until they can bear exposure. In re¬ 
moving them from the cutting pot, carefully raise them with little balls by 
means of a flat piece of wood. The success rests principally upon the state of 
the cutting, and the health of the mother plant. The cutting should neither be 
of the strongest or the weakest growth. The very slow growing sorts by being 
placed in heat for a little time will produce cuttings that will grow freely. The 
species of easy growth may be put under a hand-glass or a north border. The 
sooner the cuttings are potted off after taking root the better, as by remaining in 
the cutting pot they become drawn and sickly. After potting, when the plants 
begin to grow, take oft'their tops, and during the following spring they will throw 
out side shoots, and become nice and bushy.— T. Rutger, Gard. Mag. 
