471 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 19. 
A moderate heat of 50° would now be useful for sis 
weeks; but a green-house treatment will do all the 
winter. Towards the end of January the plants should 
have a shift into pots one size larger, and a rich compost 
of loam and rotten dung, with a little sand ; and a month 
after this shift, all the growth which is not wanted ought 
to be cut away ; if the eyes on the leader are not started 
by this time, the leader must be stopped, to cause more 
eyes to push. A month before greenhouse plants are 
turned out, or say, at the end of April, the plants should 
have a liberal shift, which is to last them till September. 
The month in-doors after this shift will be sufficient to 
establish them in the large pots, and they will do better 
out-of-doors from the end of May, then to be plunged 
to the rim full in the sun, and to be turned round occa¬ 
sionally, so as to get them full-faced all round. 
The rest of the treatment is merely to thin out where 
they grow close or crowded, and to stop such shoots as 
grow stronger than the rest, so as to get a well-balanced 
growth on all sides. The leader must not be allowed to 
flower all this season, nor allowed to grow above six or 
eight inches long, without a sufficient number of eyes 
breaking to form the pyramid, as it goes on. In Sep¬ 
tember, the pots should be unplunged, and the plants 
left short of water, to prepare them for the annual close 
pruning, as with the old plan. Every side-shoot is still 
to be looked on as an individual plant, and is to be 
pruned accordingly, and kept thin at the bottom : with¬ 
out this, confusion comes, and a world of bother with 
sticks and training. A little training out of the shoots 
all the summer, and a few stakes, cannot be avoided 
altogether ; but the eye, the fingers, and the point of the 
knife, ought to work together, so as to render as few 
sticks as possible necessary for Scarlet Geraniums; the 
greenhouse ones are not so strong, and must have sticks 
and training, just like single plants, on the old system. 
For the first three years all the soil is to be shook from 
pyramids as from squat plants, and the roots as closely 
pruned; the last ten days of September will be early 
enough to cut Scarlets for the season ; but August is the 
best time for cutting greenhouse sorts, that is, for the 
first three years : after that, much depends on their times 
of flowering; but I would not have permanent plants 
like these to be pressed too much by late autumn flower¬ 
ing, or run the risk of a late cutting and shift; it is far 
more dangerous to cut Scarlet Geraniums late in the 
autumn than greenhouse ones, and, like fruit-spurs on 
horizontal shoots, it is very difficult to make up for a 
lost shoot in a pyramid. As all the greenhouse Gera 
niums in pots are cut by this time on the old system, we 
must pass them for the present; but any of them now 
out in the borders may be dealt with, as near as possible, 
like the Scarlets. 
I shall have a great deal to say about this way, and I 
thank “ Verax” for breaking the ice. D. Beaton. 
STANDARD FLOWERING PLANTS, FOR 
EITHER OUT-OF-DOORS, OR IN-DOORS. 
SALVIA SPLENDENS. 
The treatment of this as a conservatory flowering- 
plant has been given in an early volume. Few things 
are more handsome, as a greenhouse plant, in the 
autumn months, when the plants are grown on in 
summer, from cuttings inserted at the end of spring, 
and either kept in pots all the time, in a oold pit, after 
they become some size, or are pluuged in the pots in an 
open compartment, or are planted out towards the end 
of June, and raised and pottod towards the middle of 
September. Under the latter process, unless consider¬ 
able care is exercised, the plant is apt to be deprived of 
a portion of its foliage. 
In the vicinity of London, I have had this plant, and 
south and west of London, I have seen it very orna- 
I mental out-of-doors, in summer. A large specimen, 
saved over the winter, without great care, pruned-in a 
little in spring, grown on, and planted-out at the end 
of June, as a single plant on a lawn, has been a perfect 
blaze of scarlet in a sheltered place for a month or two. 
If my memory is not treacherous, I have also seen it do 
equally well out-of-doors in summer, in the Carso of 
Gowrie. These facts would show, that there are many 
■ circumstances besides latitude that influence climate. 
; I have tried the plant repeatedly here, rather exposed, it 
i is true, and never could get it to remain long in a 
healthy condition. I have some standards now that 
have not freely expanded their blooms, even in this 
extra warm summer. 
Something like twenty miles east from this, in the 
same county of Hertford, I saw, two years ago, about 
this time, an avenue of standards of this plant, by the 
side of a walk, flourishing beautifully, though there 
seemed to be no difference whatever in the treatment 
given. Our readers will, perhaps, recollect the account 
of a bed of the Enjthrina cristagalli, in the same 
' gardens of Earl of Cowper, under the care of Mr. 
I Thomas Dawson, such a sight as is seldom to be seen. 
The Erythrina plants which I tried were young, but, 
S making every allowance for that, I question if that 
splendid coral plant will ever do so well here without 
I shelter. Strong old roots, in any case, must, in this 
I instance, constitute an element of success. When, at 
any time, the terms south and north are used, as to the 
position in which a plant will thrive, much must be 
allowed for the position and comparative shelter of the 
place. For instance, though here, in a rather high 
exposed place, we are only about thirty miles north of 
London, from the public papers I learn that veget¬ 
ables and fruit from the open air find their way to the 
Edinburgh market sooner often than I can get them 
here. While, from private sources, I find that hardy 
fruits and vegetables, unassisted with any mode of 
fostering protection, are obtained about as early as here, 
on the banks of the Beanly, near Inverness. There is, 
I therefore, no reason why this Salvia should not be tried 
in many places far north of London, both in the bush 
and standard form out-of-doors, as where it will succeed, 
it will be found, taken all in-all, to be the prince of 
Sageworts. 
YV hen the object is to obtain standard plants for the 
greenhouse in autumn, they may be obtained from three 
to five feet in height, and with nice, compact little heads, 
from cuttings struck in April in a hotbed. After the 
first and second pottings, the plants should be replaced 
in a rather close and warm place, to encourage them to 
grow freely, and by the middle of June the cold pit will 
furnish all the closeness necessary. Towards the end of 
July they will require a free admission of air, and from 
first tc last, until the flower-buds are allowed to remain, 
a free application of the syringe to keep the red spider 
at a distance. During the first part of this period, the 
young plant should be grown to one stem, allowing 
every leaf to remain as long as it will hang, but remov¬ 
ing every aspiring side-shoot, and keeping all weakly 
ones shortened-in to one bud as they grow. This will 
add to the strength of the stem more than removing 
them altogether at once ; and if your fancy should lead 
in that direction, you may ultimately choose whether 
you would prefer a stem perfectly clean, or with rings of 
small leaves at the joints.’ I find that on Fuchsias, and 
Scarlet Geraniums, such green garniture, of what other¬ 
wise would be naked stems, is rather desirable than 
otherwise. 
When the main shoot gets as high as you consider 
necessary, its top should be pinched out, leaving about 
half a dozen buds to break and form the future head, all 
