390 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
the rest will start off by the central shoots, leaving the 
bottom mass and the bare shoots to fight it out as best 
they can; then comes the pruner, who is bent on having 
his standards at the least trouble and expense ; he cuts 
off all the smothered and half-dead branches from those 
plants which aspire to be higher in the world, leaving 
them as mere ghosts for a time ; but his ghostship is 
not much noticed after all, for the common mass of 
plants below hide tho naked stems, and after another 
season or two’s growth, out comes a full-blown stand¬ 
ard, covered with scars, it is true; but timebeals all 
things. D. Beaton. 
PROPAGATION OF COMMON GREENHOUSE 
AND COLD PIT PLANTS. 
Who has not admired the combination of wisdom 
and satire in the well-known story of the old man and 
his ass, who, in attempting to please all, satisfied none, 
and lost his ass into tho bargain. Purveyors for the 
public, bo their material what it may, are often placed 
in a similar predicament. Fortunate, indeed, are they, 
if they never have to grumble over the loss of friends 
and the milling of their placid tempers at one and the 
same time. The first of these contingencies our little 
work may expect at times to meet; the second personal 
evil we are too case-hardened greatly to experience. 
And yet it would be more pleasant could we give satis¬ 
faction to every one. I think it might be possible to 
succeed even better than we do, did our supporters 
attend more to three things: First, never to grudge a 
postage-stamp to the editor for detailing a clear, but 
short, statement of their wants. Secondly, to get into the 
habit of generalising ideas, so that what may be gained 
in one department, may be brought to bear on another; 
and Thirdly, to bear in mind that what is of no moment 
to them may be all-important to others. Personal profit 
may thus be secured in unison with tho general ad¬ 
vantage. There is a tendency in all long-lived periodi¬ 
cals, especially if professional, to fly too high for the 
simplicities. The teacher ever finds himself most at 
home with the more advanced scholars; but, lie would 
soon have an empty school were tho boys in the alphabet 
neglected. I would wish alike to retain the old, and 
entice fresh subscribers. To effect this, I have lately 
had evidence, written, oral, and ocular, that simple 
matters must not be neglected, even should we descend 
to repetition, if we would wish to obtain, and retain, 
young beginners. Says one, “ I expected your Cottage 
Gardener would just suit me; but it is all Greelc. I 
know nothing of these fine names that seem to engross 
all the attention.” Writes another, “ I got a loan of 
some numbers a twelve-month ago, but I have looked in 
vain for such information since; not a word as to how I 
am to manage these loves of geraniums, calceolarias, &c.” 
“Just oblige me with stepping this way a few minutes,” 
whispers a third. “There, what do you think of these— 
Cottage Gardener treatment, aint they ?” and atten¬ 
tion is directed to strawberry plants in pots, standing on 
a shady border, the soil as loose about them as if it had 
been gently trundled in, and the buds almost as near 
the bottom of the pot as tho surface. Great results 
were expected in April and May, and a dim shadow of 
the reality only crept over our friend’s vision when 
assured he would not get rich if he had a guinea per 
ounce for his fruit. Now a fourth enquires, “ What can 
be the matter with my cuttings? my man Friday says 
that they have been treated exactly as directed some 
twelve months ago, in spring, putting them in a slight 
hot-bed; but salvias, petunias, &c., have got some¬ 
thing more than ricketty legs ; calceolarias have gone, 
with the exception of a few green leaves on the top; the 
points even of scarlet geraniums are rotting; verbenas 
September 23. ! 
are so lanky that they will not bear their own weight; ” 
and the wonderful mystery turned out to be, that these 
evils took place in an atmosphere, in autumn, that 
Messrs. Robson and Errington would not have found 
fault with in March for cucumbers. A fifth having no 
pits or frames; wishes to save the grapes in the one I 
house as long as possible, and grumbles because the 
grapes will damp when the floor is kept damp with 
cuttings; and wonders, again, when ho finds scarlet j 
geraniums striking freely in boxes on his stage and | 
plenty of air on, that no drencliings will enable him to j 
keep calceolarias alive in such circumstances. 
These are only types of classes who good-naturedly ; 
hint that now they do not get the information they want, i 
and so peculiarly singular does each consider his own j 
circumstances to be, that a score of papers would not i 
treat their cases, even though these should be repetitions 
of all that has been said and done on such matters. 
This I cannot think of doing for the present, but will 
content myself with alluding to one general rule in 
propagating, and to its application in a few distinctive 
cases. 
The cause, then, of many failures, and of much extra, 
useless labour, is the treating of cuttings inautumn the 
same as would be necessary in spring. I am not sur¬ 
prised that inexperienced friends fall into this error. It 
seems very simple now, but I floundered for years in 
similar mistakes myself. It is no libel to say that many 
gardeners are not yet above the prejudice. How com¬ 
mon is it to hear them talking of getting up a bed for 
their cuttings in autumn, while, if taken off moderately 
early, any thing in the shape of extra heat does more 
harm than good; I speak of plants in the mass, not of 
those having their distinctive periods of growth. In 
spring, growth is actively progressing and arresting that 
growth suddenly by cold would paralyse the vitality of 
tho cutting. A little extra heat to what it had before, 
will give an additional stimulus to upward and down¬ 
ward growth. A little bottom-heat acts then on the base 
of the cutting, encouraging the protrusion of roots, 
without unduly lengthening, and thus weakening the 
upper part before roots are formed. But in the autumn 
the case is different; mere extension is giving place to 
consolidation ; heat and light are naturally decreasing, 
instead of augmenting. Extra heat in spring assists 
natural progression; extra heat in autumn counteracts 
the repose to which the plant is tending. Nature will 
be assisted, she will not be forced. Hence, cuttings with 
attenuated tops, and bases with tissues, rent and rotting, 
if such had been kept cool, and time given, might every 
one have rooted and been healthy. There is only one 
deviation allowable when propagating late in autumn; 
a slight bottom-heat may be presented to the base of tho I 
cutting, but even then tho tops must be kept cool. If I 
cuttings of the generality of our balcony, basket, and 
flower-bed-plants arc taken early in autumn, the cold i 
pit or frame will beat the hot-bed; but in general you 
must wait a considerable period for the rooting process, j 
Many, with succulent stems, will succeed nicely in the ! 
open air. One thing more should bo attended to. ' 
Many will not stand sunshine, but then shade should 
bo moderate. I prefer subdued light, instead of shading, | 
by putting cuttings deep in a pit exposed to the south ; 
or turning a frame, with its high side to the south ; or 
using a north border for many small things. Let us 
now glance at a few distinctive groups. 
First: Scarlet Geraniums, &c. — Nice stubby, firm- I 
based side-shoots of these will strike best of all in the | 
opeu air, on a south border, from the middle of July to 
the first week of September. After that period they will 
be better for having a glass light thrown over them to 
keep off extra wet and cold ; from two-and-a-half to four 
inches is a good size for a cutting. Remove a few of the 
small leaves at the base, cut clean across where you 
