THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 22. 
points of slioots or cuttings, in sunshine, being of little 
consequence, because the juicy succulence of the cutting 
contains a storo-houso of vitality; and because that 
extreme succulence enables the plant to ubsorb about 
as much from the dews and the atmosphere at night 
: as it transpires during the following day. Treated in 
tho same way, all the stronger Pelargoniums, with well- 
hardened stems, and cut into pieces, from two-and-a-half 
to three-and-a-balf inches in length, will answer admir¬ 
ably, with or without any shading. Ono advantage 
connected with this oasy mode is, that little time is 
required in getting a great many cuttings put in. Its 
attendant drawback is, that if you do not movo or pot 
the cuttings soon aftor thoy are struck thoy will soon 
becoino so vigorous, and tho roots will soon run so far 
from homo, that tho young plants will be apt to receive 
a great check when you do move them. The same 
evil, however, will bo apt to ensue in the plan of Mr. C., 
unless the cuttings aro put in rather thinly, and the 
rooting has not extended far before the plants are 
either transplanted or potted. To guard against tho 
double evil of first extra luxuriance—aud then the check 
given to that luxuriance in moving such plants—some 
friends modify tho plan of Mr. D., and insert their 
cuttings in shallow wooden or zinc boxes, in light, sandy 
soil, and, as they are short of room, allow them to 
remain in those boxes until spring, when they frequently 
assume a stunted appearance. However tho plants are 
propagatod, it will generally conduce to their future 
welfare if they are potted or transplanted into fresh 
material soon enough aftor they have rooted to prevent 
extra luxuriance, and to enable thorn to root in the 
fresh soil before the dark days of winter. All things 
considered, tho hardier tho treatment given to such 
cuttings, the more robust will be the future plant, 
provided that hardy rearing is not carried to such an 
extent as to debilitato health. 
So much in general; now to the questions ntoro defi¬ 
nitely. All suoh hardy, succulent, strong-stemmed 
Pelargoniums will .answer very well in a light, sandy 
border, without any preparation, and shading may be 
resorted to just according to your fancy, or as you wish 
the plants, or rather cuttings, to look fresh all the time, 
or you are satisfied with tho mere good ulterior result, 
thinking more of that than of the gradations to be 
passed through. Rut in all cases where the soil is heavy 
and strong, aud, it may be, rich, if tho border cannot be 
wholly surfaced, it is very desirable to draw shallow 
drills, aud to fill these wiLli light, sandy soil from the 
side of tho highway, or equal parts of loam, saud, aud 
leaf-mould. The roasons for this practice aro these: 
roots form more readily; those, when formed, aro not so 
much tempted to descend deep in' search of nourish¬ 
ment, so that you escape the consequences of extra 
luxuriance and the checks that must be given; and thus 
encouraged to ramify nearer home, the plants are much 
easier taken up with small balls, or, at least, with 
nourishing matter adhering to the roots. Rut, then, 
supposing that I had a few kinds rather tender, or a few 
sorts, novel or scarco, I would as soon think of flying as 
inserting suoh cuttings, either in such prepared borders, 
or even in such beds, as practised by 0. I would have 
some pots, some threo to five inches in diameter, filled 
as mentioned abovo, and close to the sides of these pots, 
leaving enough of room for the cuttings not greatly to 
touch each other, I would place them as neatly and 
firmly as possible, and just on the principle frequently 
referred to, that the resistance given to the expansion of 
the cutting by the sides of the pot would causo roots 
sooner to be produced; and because, leaving tho contre 
of the'pot unoccupied is so far a security against ex¬ 
tremes of extra dryness or extra damp. All young 
beginners in propagating may rest assured that small 
pots will suit their purpose best, as thus, many cuttings 
305 
may bo placod in small space, without inserting any in 
rows in tho centre of the pot. The only plan by which 
large pots, or even pans, may be so used, without much 
disadvantage, is when the vessels are either so shallow, 
or tho hard drainage so high, that the base of the cut¬ 
ting next to rests upon the porous drainago ; but even 
then, the advantage is not so great as when not only tho 
base is near the drainage, but part of the side, or stem 
of the cutting presses against tho sides of tho pot. 
"Supposing I strike my Polargoniums in pots, where 
am I to set them, especially the moro tendor and small 
kinds, such as the fancies? Mr. E. places his in a mild 
hotbed, but vast numbors of the fancy kinds damp off. 
Mr. E. keeps his in a cool frame, and many of his seem 
to spirit themselves away into their primitive elements, 
as they cannot bo seen by material vision. In one ease, 
the little things damp off; in tho other, they skoleton 
themselves off, or leave not a vostigo of their sweet 
selves.” 
I have previously alluded to the danger of over-damp¬ 
ness. Eor some time aftor the cuttings are inserted they 
should be gently dewed instead of being watered. Little 
even of this will be required, where there is enough of 
orgunisable matter in tho stem to keep up the processes 
of vitality without any assistance from the old loaves. 
In that case, air all night, and a littlo during the day, 
with just onough of shade to prevent shrivelling, will 
be nearly all tho cuttings will require. In hot, dry 
weathor, tho ground should be watered instoad of the 
cutting, and the action of dewing from the syringe bo 
chiefly deferred until the young buds aro leafing some¬ 
what freely. Rut when, as in the case of a slender- 
growing, beautiful, fancy kind, the stems are neither 
very numerous, nor very strong, nor very well ripened, 
and yet you wish to make the most of them, after 
cutting up your stems into pieces containing two or 
threo joints, and removing tho leaves from tho lower 
ones, quick success will greatly depend on keeping the 
foliage loft as long as possible in a healthy state, and 
that healthiness will be greatly owing to keeping the 
soil, during that period, dryish rather than damp; 
forcing (by means of shade, &c., and yet a free current 
of air,) tho cuttings to absorb moisture from the atmos¬ 
phere by which they are surrounded, rather than from 
tho soil in which thoy were inserted. 
Then the question of a hotbed, or a cold-bed, or 
frame, is quite a relative affair, according to tho time 
the cuttings are made During the month of August, 
no artificial beat will be wanted to strike tho tenderest 
and weakest even of the fancies. All that are put in for 
tho first threo weeks of that month will do better if 
they never havo anything but a cold frame or pit; little 
water when striking; plenty of air at night; closer, but 
not without air in sunshine, but shade them, to prevent 
rapid evaporation. If I could not get such cuttings of the 
tenderer, and weuker-growing fancies, until the first or 
second week in September, to ensure their rooting freely, 
before winter, I would advise koopiug them in a cold 
frame or pit, as advised above, for three or four weeks, 
and then plunge tho pots in which they were inserted 
into a slight sweet hotbed, tho surface of which was 
covered with dry ashes, saw-dust, or dry sand, and the 
top of the cutting kept cool and dry by air being left 
on night and day. As soon as roots wore making freely, 
the pots should be elevated out of the plunging medium, 
and the plants hardened off by degrees. Such plants, 
even after this labour, are not to be so muoh depended 
on as those struck early without any coddling. A hint 
to the wise should, therefore, be sufficient. Similar j 
modos of action will apply to most of the things usually | 
propagated at this season. R. Eish. 
