ANSWERS TO QUERIES, 
849 
ARTICLE IV. 
ANSWERS TO QUERIES IN FLORICULTURE. 
To “B. C.” p. 766.—The best mode of increasing the Orange , is by budding 
upon small seedling stocks, the proper time is when the buds upon the young 
shoots are tolerably ripe; this will be known by the appearance of the shoots or 
separation of the buds. After budding, place the plants in a hot-bed frame, as 
the moist heat accelerates the union of the bud with the stock. H. L. T. the 
Double Camellia can be successfully propagated by cuttings, we have on several 
occasions put off fifty cuttings, and have succeeded in striking forty-nine of them. 
The method we practised has been followed by some of our friends, and was 
found equally successful, how long they will continue to thrive, we are not pre¬ 
pared to say. Our kind correspondent G. A. L. in a letter which now lies before 
us, “says they may be propagated by cuttings very well, but when struck they 
grow very slowly, and after a year or two they generally wither and die, this is 
the reason why it is not recommended in Loudon’s Encyclopedia;” and the 
main reason why it was not mentioned in our article p. 362, if our plants now 
struck, thrive and do well, we will insert an article on the subject. The Narcis¬ 
sus stellaris grows in the garden of the Apothecaries’ Company, Chelsea. We 
have made enquiry, but cannot find it elsewhere. Mr. Howden informs us, “it is 
very expensive;” this is all we know about it. To “ J. Mitford.”—Take up the 
Geraniums at the approach of frost, with all their fibrous roots attached; shorten 
all the tops, and plant them as close as possible in oblong boxes, say twenty or 
thirty in each box of three feet long, water and place them in a shed, where they 
are safe from frost; they seldom require water afterwards unless they become 
very dry. In May, turn them out of the boxes, and plant them in the open 
ground. The system named by a practical gardener, p. 196, also answers ex¬ 
ceedingly well. “T. S.” p. 331.—The Hearts-ease. (Viola tricolor) delights in 
a rich and highly manured soil, but we will insert an article on the subject early 
in the next volume. The dark red China roses, if kept in pots, require a rich 
turfy soil, mixed with white sand, and the pots well drained with potsherds, so 
that water may pass off freely, otherwise the plants will not grow well. In most 
situations they require the protection of a cold frame in winter. If planted in 
the open ground, they should be grown in a rich fresh sandy soil, raised higher 
than the usual level of the situation; they generally require mulching during 
winter. They succeed best planted in a bed by themselves, which has been well 
drained by a substratum of stones and brickbats to the depth of several inches; 
pruning should always be deferred until the beginning of April. They are read¬ 
ily increased by taking off (close to the old wood) young shoots, two or three 
inches long, and planting them in pots of sandy loam, and placing them in a 
hot-bed frame, in a stove under glass, or under a hand-glass, as recommended 
for the common China rose, p. 246, To “A Florist,” p. 813—We have receiv¬ 
ed two answers; the writer of the first who designates himself P. states, that 
“ when the Erythrina Crista Galli has done flowering, he cuts it down to two or 
three eyes, and sets it under the stage of the green-house, and gives it no water : 
in February, when he commences forcing, he repots and places it in the stove, 
giving it a small quantity of water, increasing the quantity as it grows, until he 
places a feeder under it, and gives it a copious supply. In about ten weeks its 
stem will have grown seven or eight feet high, and will be literally a mass of 
flowers. The soil used is a turfy sandy loam. It is propagated by cuttings of 
the ripe wood, or from young sboots rubbed off at the time of its breaking. The 
essential points of this mode of treatment are, 1st. its remaining for some time 
in a state of rest, 2nd. receiving a moderate degree of heat, and 3rd. an abun¬ 
dant supply of water during its growing season.” The other signed “An Ap¬ 
prentice” says, “I keep my plants dry and cool all the winter; in February I 
turn them out of the pots, and shake oft' all the exhausted soil from the roots, l 
then replant them in pots nine inches diameter, in good sandy loam, and place 
them as near the glass as possible, in either a stove or a frame. When they be- 
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