THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
255 
February 7.] 
from a single root. And tho whole stock should now 
he carefully looked over, as they rot much faster now, 
after the tires are slackened, where they are kept 
under the stages of a greenhouse. 
Annuals. —Hardy annuals—such as those recom¬ 
mended to he sown in the autumn—should now he 
sown again as early this month as the ground is 
tolerably dry. A piece of undug ground is best for 
them. The borders of a shrubbery, or where they 
could be a little shaded from the sun, would suit 
them very well. Nemophylla insignis sown any time 
this month would be in time to till up open spaces 
between the geraniums planted out next May, and 
would keep the beds gay until the geraniums, or 
other plants, would fill up the ground. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Fuchsias. —This family of plants, named in honour 
of a celebrated German botanist, is so well known 
that any description would be superfluous. No one 
class of plants has been so successful in creating— 
among the middle and humbler classes of society—a 
love and a taste for the beautiful in flowers. Ever 
since the founder of the florist-house of Lee obtained 
the F. coccinca from the wife of a sailor—in whose 
window, in a narrow street by the banks of the 
Thames, it first attracted his attention—this family of 
flowers hasbeen a universal favourite. To the present 
descendants of that father of London nurserymen is 
the public indebted for the introduction of F. ful- 
gens; the hybrids obtained from which, and the 
older, smaller-flowered species, constitute the most 
beautiful gems we now possess. Most of them may 
be propagated with the greatest ease, either in-doors 
or out-of-doors. 
Many a sweet look, many a happy countenance, 
have 1 witnessed, produced by the receiving “ an 
Irishman’s cutting”* of these lovely ladies’ eardrops. 
Open-hearted, and open-handed gardeners, by the 
diffusion of these plants alone, have done something 
to refine, and soften, and purify the manners of the 
age. A rough, uncouth man—a prim, affected, 
haughty woman—could never be brought to admire 
and love such flowers without, at least, losing some¬ 
what of that which is forbidding and repulsive. 
And, then, how sweet they look in the window of the 
labourer, with bright flowers and luxuriant foliage, 
basking in the rays of light transmitted through 
glass, undecked with cobwebs, unshaded by dusty 
deposits ! Many, who know nothing of the cultiva¬ 
tion of flowers, may yet be paragons of excellence in 
attending to many of the duties of life, and domestic 
ones amongst the number; but in combination with 
clean, well-grown plants in a cottage window, we 
hold the want of tidiness and thrift next to an im¬ 
possibility. For all those who would dive into the 
character of those in whom they feel interested, we 
here bring them within reach of an oracle , more to 
be depended upon for the truth of its responses than 
most of those that poets have tried to immortalise in 
song. 
The popularity of the fuchsia is to be ascribed not 
only to its elegance, but, also, to the ease with which 
it may be cultivated, and the readiness with which it 
submits to various modes of growth—out-doors and 
in-doors—to meet the different circumstances of its 
many admirers. Presuming, that those intended for 
blooming in the coming season, in pots, have been 
safely stowed away during the winter, in cold pits, 
* “ An Irishman’s cutting,” is one with a nice root to it. 
cool greenhouses or, (what answers just as well under 
proper care), in sheds, dry cellars, back kitchens, and 
hay-lofts, and that, whilst in these places, they have 
been secured from frost, and the roots kept in that 
medium state of moisture equally remote from dusty 
dryness on the one hand, and wetness on the other-— 
a state, especially in the case of the uninitiated, more 
easily secured by covering, or plunging the roots, than 
by having recourse to the watering-pot—we shall 
shortly glance at some modes of culture, as suitable 
to tbe circumstances of several classes of cultivators. 
First —When there is the advantage of a hothouse, 
as well as a greenhouse; the hothouse being furnished 
with bottom-heat, either from fermenting material 
or otherwise. This is just the place for fuchsias, 
from the end of December to the end of March, if it 
is desirable to have fine, luxuriant, well bloomed spe¬ 
cimens, in May and June. The fuchsia, it is true, is 
a comparatively hardy plant; yet it luxuriates in 
what may be termed, stove treatment, when growth, 
more than bloom, is the object aimed at. For this 
high temperature treatment, plants from one to two 
years old are the best. When it is desirable greatly 
to increase the variety, the pot, with the branches 
unshortened, may be set upon the bottom-heat, and 
then cut down, within a few inches of the soil, when 
the sap is fairly in motion, and small shoots have 
been formed. Where all the cuttings required may 
be obtained from thinnings of the stool, the plants 
intended for this early work should be cut down 
shortly after the fall of the leaf, when vegetation is 
in a comparatively dormant state. These may be 
started by the pots being set on the liot-bed, during 
the latter end of December, or the whole of January 
and February; then watered, so as to moisten the 
whole of the soil, and no more to be given, until the 
plant absolutely requires it. Syringe over the re¬ 
maining part of the head frequently, to encourage the 
buds to break strongly ; when that is done, and the 
shoots are one or two inches in length, shake away as 
much as possible of the old soil; prune away all dead 
and useless fibres, but leave tbe sound and main 
roots little mutilated. Repot again, into pots of a 
similar, or even of a smaller size, using rough lumpy 
soil, and not jamming, but spreading out the roots in 
regular layers, taking care that the soil has been pre¬ 
viously prepared and heated, so as to give no unne¬ 
cessary check. Replunge the pots in tbe bed, it the 
temperature is not above 80°, top temperature 05°. 
If the bed is hotter, plunge only partially—or merely 
set the pots on the surface; water with warm water, 
and shade from the sun for a short time, until the 
reciprocal action between the roots and the young 
shoots is restored: giving no shade whatever, ii in 
sunshine, a dusting from the syringe will prevent all 
flagging. Thin the shoots accordingly as you wish 
the plant to consist of one stem, or of one stem in the 
centre, with four or five round the circumference. 
In either case treat the stems alike, encouraging them 
to grow upright and unshortened, and yet keeping 
them so near the glass, as to encourage the abundant 
protrusion of side shoots, which, if not numerous 
enough, are to be stopped to make more. Shift into 
larger pots, when necessary; give plenty of the sy¬ 
ringe, morning and evening, but especially during 
the latter. Give more air and room as the plants get 
larger; raise them by degrees from being plunged, so 
that they may stand on the surface of the bed ; and 
thus inure them, gradually, for the closest and warm¬ 
est end of a greenhouse, where they will soon present 
a mass of bloom. 
Secondly. —When there is only a greenhouse and a 
