August 12. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
307 
place for tire cuttings prepared with four parts out of 
five of drainage, and the remaining fifth consist of 
equal parts of roughish sandy peat, and the other part 
of pure silver sand, made firmish hy pressing and 
watering. Around the side of the inner pot the cuttings 
should be inserted, watered, and, when the foliage is dry, 
covered with a cone-shaped bell-glass. In fact, as much 
attention must be bestowed as was recommended for a 
tender Heath. 
Position .—The best place is a cold frame, or pit, near 
j the glass, with means of shading at pleasure ; as even 
j under double glass the young cuttings will not stand 
i the sun; and if far from the glass, they will perish from 
' exhaustion, becoming too weak and drawn to stand up¬ 
right. As they show signs of striking, they nuist be 
kept more light and airy; but if they are very long in 
rooting, they may have a little sweet bottom-heat with 
advantage. When struck, no time should be lost in 
2nd. Potting them in small Pots .—Keep close again for 
a few days, and harden off again by degrees. As these 
plants have very delicate fine roots, the soil in which 
they are grown becomes an object of importance. Where 
some very good fibry sweet loam can be obtained, a 
small portion of it may with propriety be used, especi- 
j ally when the plants are of some age and size, as it 
tends to render the distance between the whorls of 
leaves less, and thus makes the plant more sturdy 
and robust. But in every other case, and especially 
when the plants are very small and young, it will be 
advisable to give them little or no loam. The main 
portion should be about two parts of fibry peat, in pieces 
not larger than peas and field beans, and one part more 
j of equal portions of silver sand, broken pots, and broken 
I charcoal, with the dust sifted out. The soil will thus be 
i open, porous, and easily drained. 
3rd. Growing. —As the plant blooms at all seasons, it 
should be kept moderately warm in winter, say from 45° 
to 50°; but then it must have an airy open position, or 
it will become weakly and diseased; and care must be 
avoided to prevent every thing in the shape of drip in 
dull and foggy weather. In summer, the plant should 
scarcely ever be trusted out-of-doors; the roots are 
easily injured, and a reciprocal action between them 
and the shoots is soon apparent. An airy position is 
indispensable; but if near the front-glass in summer, 
the roots will be benefited if the*pot is set in a larger 
one, and the space between filled with moss. As in the 
case of other small-rooted Now Holland plants, when 
reflecting on the bright sun the branches are exposed 
to in summer in their native habitats, we are at times 
apt to forget, first, that in the soil the roots have 
free pasturage; and, secondly, that the moss, and other 
vegetation on the surface, keep the soil cooler than when 
exposed to a fierce sun in a red pot. 
4th. Watering .—This should be given with great care. 
The plants must neither be too wet nor too dry. Any¬ 
thing like stagnant moisture from inefficient drainage, 
or a dry state, such as succulent plants might bear 
repeatedly with impunity, will soon render them com¬ 
petitors for the rubbish-heap. I have found clean soft 
water the best. It should not be poured recklessly 
against the delicate stems. A potsherd, or an oyster- 
shell on the surface of the pot, on which to pour the 
water, will be useful. Let as much be given at once as 
will reach every fibre; judge when to repeat the dose 
by the state of the weather, the position the plant oc¬ 
cupies, the weight of the pot when lifted, and the ringing 
or dull sound the pot reverberates when struck sharply 
with the knuckles. These, and many more, are signs 
easily acquired hy practice, involving handling, it is 
true; but a fine, gloved gardener, be he practical or 
amateur, I look upon as I would estimate the value of a 
milted pussoy. 
I 0th. Insects .—I do not think tho plant in general is 
subject to any in particular ; but partly owing to rough 
treatment, I have nearly lost a fine plant by the attacks 
of a very small white scale; and if such a thing should 
appear on a nice plant, I would not advise other reme¬ 
dies, until I had tried dislodging them with a soft brush 
and weak soap-water. 
Beaufortta purpurea. —This genus is commemo¬ 
rative of a Duchess of Beaufort. The specific name 
denotes the colour of the flowers, which are produced 
plentifully in little round balls. Had we another similar 
in habit, with the colour of the common Buddleaglohosa, 
how nicely the yellow of the one and the violet of the 
other would set off each other’s beauties. Many of the 
Beaufortias are beautiful, but of this section of Myrtle- 
blooms none are more worthy of being placed by the 
side of the Tetrathaca, than the species just mentioned. 
The leaves are small—not larger than those of the most 
graceful Pimelia—and the plant becomes a bush, and 
blooms profusely when not more than one foot in height. 
Though not so continuous a bloomer, the flowers are 
produced a long time in succession, each young shoot 
as it grows being furnished with fresh buds. It blooms, 
also, chiefly in summer and autumn,when the glories of 
the most of hard-wooded New Holland plants have 
passed away. If not so graceful as the Tetrathaca, but it 
takes as little room, and is even much easier grown. 
Similar soil will suit it, with the exception that a little 
more loam may be safely and advantageously added. 
It is easier propagated from short young shoots getting 
firm at their base ; and though requiring care in water¬ 
ing, is not so quickly injured from a redundancy or a 
deficiency. It will stand, when necessary, 5° more cold 
in winter; but the roots, though not equally vulnerable, 
should not be greatly heated by the sun in summer. 
Pfrenoooma prolife ha. —An old plant, but still very 
beautiful when well grown. The difficulty is to get a 
compact specimen; there seems always such a tendency 
to get upwards at the expense of being bare, or bandy¬ 
legged. Fretting and striving after upwardism is to be 
found elsewhere than in plants. What social ills are 
not to be found in its train ? Those who wish to grow 
this kind of the everlastings (for the genus Aphelexis, 
and Ilelichrysum, are neither of them far removed from 
it), must commence aright with a dwarf, compact plant, 
a few inches in height, from the nurseries. The un¬ 
initiated would prefer, for the same money, a plant with 
one or two brownish stems, and from a foot to eighteen 
inches in height. It is a hopeless case. True, the 
plant will bloom at its points year after year, but no 
twisting, or managing, will make it a nice, pretty, 
regular specimen. If such a young, bushy, dwarf plant 
cannot be obtained, and without vigorous stopping and 
training the youngest will soon become lanky, the best 
plan would be to commence with a few cuttings, which 
are easily procurable from the numbers of stiff side- 
shoots that are always found clustering round the stem. 
They require much less care than the Tetrathaca.. If 
placed in sand, with a bell-glass over them, they may 
even be set on a shelf close to the glass, and will merely 
require shading when the sun is very intense. I have 
had them strike freely without shading at all. When 
potted off, the stopping and training of them out should 
lie the chief thing. . Two parts turfy pit, one of fibry 
loam, and one of sand, broken pots, and nodules of 
charcoal, will grow it admirably. The roots are not 
particularly sensitive, as respects heat or cold, but, will 
stand considerable extremes ; 45° in winter, and 70° in 
summer, will be a good medium temperature. 
R. Fish. 
CONIFERS. 
Araucaria. —This fine assemblage of plants, so re¬ 
markably different from any European trees, is so 
