EXTRACTS FLORICULTURE. 
181 
them will be ready for being engrafted. Prepare a gentle hot-bed in a shady 
situation; or, if that cannot be convenientl) r done, turn the back of the frame 
towards the south; then graft the plants, which may be performed in various 
ways with equal success; but the manner to be recommended is cleft grafting, 
as the scion heals over the wound much sooner than by any other way. Take 
off the top of the scion before inserting it in the stock. At this time much care 
is required to keep up a proper heat; and that the plants be shaded with dou¬ 
ble mats, for the clear sun will often cause a complete failure. When they have 
properly taken, admit a little air; but it must be sparingly at first. If conveni¬ 
ent, keep the plants in a frame during winter, and take good care not to over¬ 
water them. If, about the beginning of April, a little dung heat be given, to set 
them growing, they will benefit much by it, provided plenty of air be admitted, 
to prevent them growing weak. If one shoot be likely to take too much the lead 
of the others, pinch off the top. The orange-tree does not require to be shut up 
in a house, like stove plants, but ought to have plenty of air at all seasons, and 
in summer, should be put out early in the season.—R. S.— Gard. Mag. 
On the Culture of the Carnation. —In September take the layers off the 
old plants, and pot them two in each forty-eight sized pot, in soil composed of 
one-half leaf soil, and one-half coarse pit sand approaching to grit. Before pla¬ 
cing the plants in the pots, give a good drainage by plenty of potsherds. When 
potted give a sufficient watering, and place them, exposed to the mid-day sun, 
in a frame filled with old tan so high, that it will just admit the pot and plant 
to stand on the surface, and not touch the glass. Shut them close down, and 
shade them for a few days, until recovered from potting; then begin gradually 
to give air, and increase it till, in dry warm weather, the lights may be entirely 
taken off; take care to close them down again before the evening dews fall, and 
preserve them at all times carefully from excess of wet, or mildew, and canker will 
infest, if not destroy the plants. Follow this mode of treatment until November 
or December, giving a little water to those which appear dry. When severe 
weather sets in, keep the lights completely closed; but when the weather changes 
and days lengthen, give air as before, until the latter end of March, when for a 
few days before final removing, give full air night and day. In potting, place a 
single plant in each thirty sized pot for blooming; the soil used, is composed of 
three-fifths decomposed leaf soil, one-fifth coarse pit sand or grit, one-fifth road- 
scraping from a limestone made road, or the subsoil or paring next the stone 
used for lime; these ingredients should be well mixed and exposed to the frosts 
of winter, and be frequently turned, at the same time carefully picking out all 
worms, wireworms, &c. fill each pot with about one-sixth of well broken potsherds 
to give a good drainage, place a little of the coarsest soil upon this, and place 
one plant in each pot, reducing the old ball a little, so that the roots, when 
finally placed, may just be within the rim of the pot, not deeper; then fill up 
with the compost, and plunge the pots in the ground where they are intended to 
bloom, the rim being just covered with air. Before plunging, lay a small por¬ 
tion of soot in the place where each pot is to stand, this prevents the entry of 
worms, &c. This method is preferable to growing the plants, either in large pots 
to stand on the surface, or in the open ground. In the season of layering, place 
an inch thick of fine sandy soil round each pot, in this the layers will readily 
strike root.—W m. May. — Trans. Hort. Soc. 
