April 15. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
47 
clear and lucid our theory, wo shall fail in working it 
out successfully, unless the little matters of detail are 
duly attended to. The noticing how the same beneficial 
results are obtained by different modes, and thus shaking 
the self-conceit out of us, is one of the advantages to 
be gained by visiting gardens, 
i In the present instance, the practice of Messrs. Scobie 
and Caie is worthy of our notice. The former of these 
gentlemen has greatly improved Holland House, and 
many can speak to the beauty of the large flower- 
gardens in early summer. Mr. Caie may be called the 
father of the grouping system. For more than twenty 
years Bedford Lodge has been a perfect floral gem. 
Twenty years ago, it was inoro celebrated than now, be¬ 
cause the system was not so common, and propagating 
by the thousand was not so well understood. The 
wonder then, as now, was where the plants could come 
I from, as the glass is very limited. In a few days (the 
10th of April) it will be nineteen years since Mr. Caie 
read an essay on the subject at the West London Gar¬ 
dener’s Association, which wa.s published, with a plan, in 
“The Gardeners’ Magazine” for 1837. Many of the 
most successful groupers of the present day owe much 
to that essay; and several, like myself, still more, to 
intimacy with the writer. Even then, a considerable 
portion of the bedding material was struck in the pits, 
i not in pots, and remained there during the winter, 
j Merely as a matter of precaution, I believe, these 
; gentlemen secure a portion of their stock in houses, 
i where heat can be applied; and prudence would suggest 
this course in every case where the means exist. 
Our correspondent may rest perfectly assured that 
his criticism is looked upon as quite the reverse of 
impertinent. To my own taste, we have too little 
criticism. Let the best of men have their opinions 
received without question, and you will soon make 
Popes of them to a certainty. Those ideas are alone 
truly valuable that will stand the keen conflict of mind 
with mind, pass the scrutiny of the strictest inquiry, 
and endure the test of actual experiment. I am sure 
our correspondent will not be offended, however, if I 
say, that the want of clearness and decisiveness in my 
short paragraph is not greatly improved in his longer 
statement. 
Unless for very early flowering, I have no fault to 
find with propagating Verbenas, Anagallis, Lobelias, 
\ Senccios, &c., in spring, where there are hotbeds, &c., 
for so doing. In fact, 1 adopt the practice largely. He 
owns that Calceolarias are best propagated in autumn, 
and are best kept in cold frames or cold pits; and most 
likely he would agree with me, that as large a section, 
the Geraniums, and, I might add, Penstemons, Salvias, 
&c., are also the better for being propagated in autumn. 
Heliotropes and Ageratums do equally well propagated 
at either time ; and as they strike freely, if there is little 
room, it would be economical not to have too many of 
these in winter. 
The keeping of a stock in a greenhouse, or pit, versus 
cold frames, is also indeterminate, as it is not specified 
whether the pit is heated or not; and if not, then, for 
such purposes, if at all sunk in the ground, it is not 
equal to a frame raised above the ground level. For 
wintering all such plants, without fire-heat, this elevating 
above the ground is an indispensable. Even with fire- 
heat it is a great advantage. The idea of a pit is 
generally associated with part of the interior being be¬ 
low the ground level. If, on the other hand, the 
ground line of the pit inside was six or nine inches 
above the surrounding ground, I should not care much 
whether that position was bounded by brick walls, or by 
good boards, or planks, from two inches thick. As a 
security against frost, the boards, or planks, would be 
rather the best. I know of the frost penetrating through 
nine-inch walls of such brick pits frequently, when it 
was kept out by a two-inch board, the glass being 
equally well secured in both cases. This will meet 
several inquiries as to wood walls instead of brick walls. 
The question now resolves itself into the comparative i 
labour and trouble involved in spring versus autumn 
propagating, allowing that both wore equally useful, 
which few, in all cases, will admit. Here it may be 
necessary to mention, that our critic has, unintentionally. ' 
no doubt, substituted a word. I did not say, “ No trouble,” 
&c.; but “ little trouble or labour is lost” by the mode 
referred to. Had I written an article, instead of a : 
squeezed-in paragraph, L freely admit that the mode 
would have referred less to the keeping of the plants in 
cold frames, than to the fact of inserting the cuttings in 
the beds at once (not in pots, as our correspondent 
supposes), and allowing them to remain there until 
thinned out into an intermediate bed, or taken at once 
to the flower-garden. My own experience, as well as 
that of the gardeners referred to, prove that many bed¬ 
ding plants can bo kept well over the winter in cold 
frames, and be more healthy in spring, than those drawn 
and dried with fire-heat, especially when the roots are 
in the soil, instead of exposed to changes in pots. 
The farmer’s wife (she is generally the bead-gardener) 
who uses her three-light box in May for Cucumbers and 
choice flower-seeds, may thus, with the same box, keep 
from 1200 to 1500 nice-rooted bedding-plants through 
the winter. If you ask me whether I would not like a | 
hot-water pipe through such a frame, or pit, to use in 
sudden emergencies, I reply at once in the affirmative. 
It is best to be doubly sure, though, if there bo not 
sufficient attention given to the plants, it is just likely 
that they who forget to cover would forget to light a 
fire. It is easier, of course, to keep a stock in a heated 
greenhouse in winter, if care be taken not to overheat, i 
and from many of these, as has been seen, cuttings may | 
be taken in spring. 
Of those not mentioned, I would single out the Pc- 1 
tunia for this purpose. In many places, autumn-struck | 
plants do little good when planted out, when spring- 
struck plants and seedlings keep on without a break or ; 
stoppage. It is best when turned out of pots. Pent- * 
stemons, Ageratums, Salvias, Verbenas, Scarlet Gera¬ 
niums, Cupheas, Calceolarias, &c., do as well out of beds , 
as out of pots, and often much better, ns there is no 1 
firm ball to break. "Whatever may be said of the extra 
skill and care required for raising great numbers of such 
plants in spring, I do not see how the trouble and labour 
are lessened. In fact, what led me, as much as possible 
to bed cuttings in autumn, was the conviction, that what j 
was gained in room by merely keeping store-pots in 
winter, was neutralised by the labour, nicety of attention, | 
and room required in the spring. Let us take, for in¬ 
stance, Calceolarias and Verbenas, or, rather, Verbenas, 
as our correspondent considers with us that the first do j 
well in cold frames. There is, first, the labour of pre¬ 
paring the pots individually ; the placing of the cuttings ; 
under glass somewhere; the necessary shading, water¬ 
ing, and hardening off; the getting into the house; the 
watering, &c., in winter; the firing necessary; the get¬ 
ting up heat in spring from hotbeds, or hot-water; the j 
preparing of pots again ; the inserting of the cuttings ; ( 
the guarding of them from injury from over-heat, the 
sun, and from insects. I have found wood-lice, this 
season, a perfect torment, though catching pints of them. 
Then there is the hardening-off process again, and if very 
thick, thinning before planting them out; all involving 
a great amount of labour and trouble. In opposition 
to all this, the chief trouble and labour of the autumn 
pricking-out mode, even with cold frames, is the cover¬ 
ing and uncovering in winter. With a fair proportion 
of litter, and, if possible, a water-proof covering, wooden 
shutters would last nearly a life-time, and how soon 
would their expense be eaten up in fuel. The litter 
