358 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 8. 
to form sucli a bed, so useful at this season, for hardy 
and half hardy cuttings. 
Obtain a little sweet fermenting matter, it signifies 
little what, duug, loaves, sweepings of lawn, flax refuso, 
tan, or even sawdust fresh, and build it firmly together, 
a little wider and longer than the number of hand-lights 
you intend to put over it will cover. Make it from 
twelvo to fifteen inches deep, beat it level on the top, 
cover that with four inches of rough soil, then with 
three inches rather fine, and last of all, after previously 
patting it with the hack of a spade, with half an-inch of 
the finest sand you can muster. You can easily procure 
the two kinds of soil as to fineness, by placing the 
riddlings at the bottom, and the finer soil at the top. 
The upper fine layer should also be mixed with about a 
third of rough sand. If you can command a little 
very reduced leaf-mould to mix with the soil so much 
the better. For such general purposes, the soil obtained 
from a highway side is as good as any, and the drift 
sand that can be there picked up at the bottom of 
rising ground after a thunder shower, is only inferior 
to the very best silver sand, which you must bring from 
a distance. If, for the purpose of keeping the young 
plants slightly protected in winter, you prefer placing 
the cutting in pots,—and a six-inch pot Will hold from 
nine to a dozen,—fill the pots half up with drainage, and 
then rougher soil, and then finer, terminating with the 
sand at the top. So far, as to the where; merely 
premising, that though tins slight hotbed, if well 
shaken, and of sweet, rather dryish material, will so 
far be an advantage, yet the cuttings will strike equally 
well, in a warm autumn, in fresh sandy soil, either 
above or in the place of the common soil removed. 
In particular cases, and where danger from damping 
can be avoided—by placing rough drainage beneath 
the new soil—I prefer removing as much of the old 
soil as will admit the new with its drainage, as the 
soil in which the cuttings are placed is less quickly 
cooled by radiation than when the bed stands above 
the ground. One word more—and because it is appli¬ 
cable to the whole of the little hardy early-blooming 
things it may now be desirable to propagate by cuttings, 
—this Cheiranthus thus serving as an index to multi¬ 
tudes—this prepared ground, on a level with, or just 
au inch or two above, the level of the surrounding 
surface, will be better than ground raised above fer¬ 
menting material, as described above, if that is not 
sweet, but sour, and likely to become colonised with 
worms. In using such a bed for cuttings, it is always 
advisable to sprinkle a little quicklime, or a little salt, 
over a thin layer' of soil, placed over the duug, and 
this will prevent the slimy gentry poking their noses 
upwards. In putting such cuttings into prepared soil 
on the ground, it is also advisable to place either of 
these substances as a substratum, as nothing more 
militates against the rooting process than the moving 
and loosening of the soil by worms, which thus admit 
air to the base of the cutting, to exclude which we use 
firmish soil and a surfacing of moist sand. 
1 may also add here—as it may not come directly in 
my way again for somo time —that the fiueness of the 
sand on the surface, and its being firmly, and less 
firmly pressed, must bo regulated, to a great extent, 
by the hardness or succulence of the cutting. For 
instance; hero are a number of small Heath cut¬ 
tings getting firm at their base, for these we require the 
sand to be firmly pressed and fine, that the base of the 
cutting may be kept firm and next to air-tight. But 
here, again, is a bundle of the Double Groundsel with 
rather succulent stems, and such fine aird compact suf¬ 
ferings would be worse than useless for them; nay, an 
opener surface, such as that of sand and soil mingled, 
would suit better than any surfacing of sand by itself; 
simply, because a cutting stored with such succulence 
must have an opportunity of perspiring, as well as 
inhaling, for the whole of its length; otherwise the too- 
closely confined part would ferment and decay. 
Our correspondent will perceive that the patli of safety 
for the Cheiranthus will lie between these two extremes. 
Another word still, as to the where. It will be seen, 
that in a fine autumn, supposing you have made up your 
mind to bed instead of pot, tliore would be little advan- j 
tago gained by the slight hotbed over that on the j 
common ground; but as it is best to provide against 
contingencies, and it is possible that we may have both 
a cold and a wet autumn, then, the cuttings over the 
slight hotbed formed of the dryish material will have 
two advantages;—less liability to damp, as the rains 
will pass more easily away; and a higher temperaturo 
at the roots, produced by the gradual decomposition of 
the organised material which the entrance of air and 
moisture Will effect. 
And then, again, the position of such a bed is a matter 
of some moment. As a general rule, the successful 
rooting of any cutting removed from its parent plant 
whilst in a growing state, greatly depends on keeping 
the whole of the vital forces of that cutting in healthy 
action ; giving it as much, and no more, of direct light 
and air as will enable it to decompose and assimilate 
its diminished supply of food; using just enough of 
shading from sunlight, and a close confined atmosphere, 
to prevent the cutting from shrivelling and flagging, 
from the perspiring processes, overturning the balance 
of its powers to inhale and absorb; but not so much 
shade and closeness of atmosphere as would weaken 
or blanch the cutting, or cause it to lengthen itself 
upwards, without forming root processes downwavds. 
Now, keeping these principles in view, it will at once 
be evident, that the north side of a hedge, wall, or fence, 
and so close to it as to prevent any direct rays of the 
sun falling upon the cuttings, except some rather 
oblique ones, morning and evening, would furnish the 
position for striking such cuttings, with the minimum 
amount of trouble and care as to shading; and I am 
not going to say, but all things considered, this might 
not be the best position, if the plants did not remain 
there too long. But supposing that you cannot turn 
out your plants as soon as struck, and I know of 
nothing that deserves better a bright sunny knoll on 
which to expand its golden blossoms, it will be equally 
evident, that such a site would soon make (lie plants 
spindly and filled with watery juices, because deprived 
of the consolidating influence of that sun in which they 
so much delight, in plant-culture, therefore, as well as 
other pursuits, it is seldom that any peculiar advantage 
is gained without its attendant characteristic drawback. 
In propagating such things, therefore, that are likely to 
remain in the beds some time after being struck, I 
generally prefer an open space, though the trouble of 
shading thus be increased, in order to obtain greater 
sturdiness in the plant afterwards. Of course, in such 
a position, the sun should be watched; a fact which it 
would bo well to express on many a young blue aproner, 
who too often attend^ to his shading, just as he minds 
breakfast and tea time. In such circumstances, I 
frequently, for the purpose of minimising prosent care, 
and securing future robustness, give the cuttings a 
north aspect in a bed at first, and a south one as soon 
they can bear it. I have no great love for hand-lights 
as at present constructed, and would, for most purposes, 
have the glass in them transferred to sashes, cover¬ 
ing wooden boxes of a size to be easily transferable. 
Well, the bed being made quite level, before the box is 
set on, the high side of it is first placed towards the 
south, and when the rooting process is fairly going 
on, the box is lifted and turned, so that the high part 
faces the north, or any other point of the compass 
deemed most desirable. If our enquirer has begun to 
