February 28.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
attention to the root. Let it be remembered that over¬ 
cropping is always bad policy: it not only deteriorates 
the produce, but enervates tbe very constitution of the 
tree, and lays the foundation of premature old age. 
It is somewhat difficult to say how much a given vine 
should carry, so much difference exists in point of 
energy. As a general principle, we may say that the 
root being good, all the rest is dependent on the 
amount of light; and that the number of square feet 
of roofing may of itself be allowed to determine the 
question. We should, therefore, say, that one bunch 
of a pound weight to every two feet of roofing-surface 
is a good crop ; this is, of course, supposing the vines 
to be equally grown and trained over the roof, and 
that they are placed, as it were, by measurement; 
such, however, is seldom the case, and, therefore, 
vines are made to carry more in one portion than 
another. Vines, confined merely to rafters and closely 
stopped, are generally allowed from 10 to 15 good 
bunches; this, of course, dependent on the length of 
rafter. 
We need scarcely advise the amateur about the 
mode of stopping ; most people stop at one joint 
beyond the “ show,” or bunch. This is more a 
matter of expediency than principle ; for it would not 
do, in the majority of cases, to let them extend far¬ 
ther, for they would soon monopolise the space which 
should belong, of right, to the neighbouring bunch; 
and, like folks at a dinner-table, too much elbowing 
is not very agreeable. 
We will return to vine-culture again, shortly. 
Planting, Pruning, &c., Out-of-doors. —Once more 
we say let all planting, intended to be carried out 
this spring, be at once completed. We do not like 
this late planting; still there are those who do; and, 
again, those who are compelled to do so, and on such 
we urge its completion. All wall-trees, or, indeed, 
any trees of choice character, and which have at¬ 
tained considerable size, should, on removal at this 
late period, have some kind of shade tacked or hung 
before them. This will prevent the injurious effects 
arising from intense sunlight, which causes a “ draw ” 
on the vital forces, not at all compatible with the 
torpidity of the root. Such, also, preserves a more 
regular amount of atmospheric humidity in the vici¬ 
nity of the branches—a thing of much importance; 
anil those who can, will do well to frequently wet 
such a shade. Pruning must all be completed forth¬ 
with, except with figs ; those may remain until the 
true character of the young wood can be ascertained. 
Mulching. —Let all newly planted trees receive a 
mulching immediately, if only of half-decayed weeds, 
rotten straw, or thatch,—or, indeed, any thing ot a 
porous character; if enriching, so much the better. 
We prefer horse-droppings, or rather, the shorter por¬ 
tion of stable-door dung, in afresh state, just roughly 
shook over, and merely the longest removed. 
Staking. —This is all-important when fruit-trees of 
some size are removed. If they are permitted to be 
rocked to and fro with our March storms, all the 
benefits of careful planting and mulching will be 
negatived. R. Eiuungton. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Propagation by Cuttings. — Those who have 
grounded their practice on making all kinds of cut¬ 
tings according to the dictates of vegetable physio¬ 
logy, have often found themselves at fault without 
being able to discover the cause of then - failure. 
They insist on keeping as many of the leaves entire 
as the cutting-pot will hold, even at the risk of hav¬ 
ing the leaves laying close on each other; because 
they believe they have been taught that the more 
leaves a cutting has, the faster and more sure it must 
root; but there never was a greater mistake in gar¬ 
dening ; and physiology, in its true meaning, never 
taught anything so absurd. It is but too true, that 
writers on the higher branches of our art have often 
made use of obscure expressions, which are difficult 
to understand, but very easy for a young beginner to 
misapply; but that does not alter fundamental laws. 
Many cuttings will strike roots in the open air 
without any leaves; some will only root when the 
leaves are present; others there are, on which the 
action of the leaves in the open air, or even with the 
air partly confined, as in a hot-bed, is so powerful, 
that by perspiration it exhausts the juices of the 
cuttings long before roots can be formed to suck up 
a fresh supply, to sustain the life of the cutting. 
I believe most readers of this work are aware that, 
leaves can only perspire under the influence of light; 
and, therefore, it follows that if cuttings could be 
made to grow in total darkness, there would be no 
perspiration from the leaves, and, consequently, no 
waste of the substance of the cutting, and all might 
go on safe enough. But cuttings will not live in 
darkness any more than will living plants; there¬ 
fore, we must try some other scheme with them. Let 
us suppose that we have no better arrangement than 
a close hot-bed, and we have just seen that certain 
cuttings failed to keep up their leaves in such a 
place, because there was still too much free air in 
this bed for the safety of our experiment. This is 
not a rare thing with gardeners, but of every day ex¬ 
perience ; and those of them who adhere strictly to 
the rules of physiology, and will not reduce the leaves 
of their cuttings so as to suit them lor a particular 
arrangement of means, seldom shine in the propa¬ 
gating department; whereas others, who are less 
scrupulous on that head, make very light of natural 
laws, and of two evils they choose the least. They 
know very well that the more leaves are left on a 
given cutting, the faster it will root—provided that 
such leaves are accommodated so as to insure their 
safety; but, finding their own means insufficient for 
that purpose, they violate the letter of the law, and 
reduce the leaves to such a point as will come within 
the capabilities of their propagating means—say a 
common cucumber-bed. Now, a bed of this sort 
must have air given it every day, more or less, ac¬ 
cording to the weather; and we have seen that cer¬ 
tain cuttings will not stand even a close hot-bed 
when their leaves are all left on, much less can they 
stand secure in a bed with a portion of air on; and, 
in that case, more leaves must be sacrificed to reduce 
the perspiring surface. And if we are deprived of 
even a cucumber bed, and must root such cuttings 
in a greenhouse, or vinery, a still greater proportion 
of the leaves must be cut off', otherwise the free access 
of the air to such structures would soon reduce the 
substance of the cuttings. Now, when physiology 
issued the laws of propagation it did not take any of 
these make-shifts into account, but rather took it for 
granted that the conditions necessary to insure suc¬ 
cess were at hand. The most essential of these con¬ 
ditions being a bell-glass to cover the cuttings so as 
to cut off all communication with the surrounding- 
air, and to maintain a uniform humid atmosphere 
around them, thus doing away altogether with the 
stimulus to perspiration, which, as we have seen 
above, would soon exhaust the leaves ot their juices 
before they had time to form the matter from which 
roots are made. 
