THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
95 
November 13. 
The cause of this was variously attributed, hut the most 
rational appeared to he this:—If the plant he cut down 
before the root was taken up, the stem bled and the moisture 
ran down the hollow and lodged there. When the tubers 
were taken up no attention was paid to this fact, and they 
were frequently put away in that state. This moisture was 
supposed to cause the rotting of the stem downwards, and 
hence the mischief. In an article on the Dahlia, published 
years ago, it was recommended to drain the moisture away 
immediately, by placing the stem downwards ; and whether 
they were hung up, or packed in sand, or put away in pits 
like potatoes, or in whatever way they were kept, to place 
the stems downwards ; and the individuals who had observed 
1 this had invariably found them free from the disorder, 
i This is worth following at the present season, for it is quite 
certain the precaution can do no harm. It is, perhaps, the 
: freedom from the moisture, which exudes on cutting down, 
j that causes all pot-roots to be so comparatively sound—the 
j plant drying up on the root must be beneficial; and there is 
no way of preserving pot-roots better than laying them on 
their side until perfectly dry, and even until they are wanted 
in the spring. E. Y. 
NEW PLANTS. 
THEIR PORTRAITS, BIOGRAPHIES, AND CULTURE. 
Lavender-like Grevillea (Grevillea lavendulacea ).—• 
Gardeners Magazine of Botany, iii, 257.—This new plant 
is a handsome addition to this beautiful genus of New 
Holland plants. Seeds of it were sent from the Swan 
River Settlement by Mr. Drummond, to the Messrs. 
Henderson, of Pine-Apple Place, London, with whom it 
flowered, for the first time in this country, last spring, 
when it was exhibited at the Horticultural Society’s 
Rooms, in Regent Street, and was much admired for 
the brilliancy of its rose-coloured blossoms, and its close 
habit of growth. In a consecutive arrangement of the 
species it falls in next to Grevillea rosmarinifolia, with 
which it presents many points of resemblance, but is 
better than that species for the requirements of the 
gardener who competes for prizes. 
The genus was named by Brown in honour of U. F- 
Greville, a patron of botany. It belongs to the Natural 
Order of Proteads (Proteaceai), and to the first order of 
the fourth class in the Linmcan system, Tctrandria 
Monogynia. 
Proteads are proverbial for the diversity of aspect they 
exhibit among the genera, and Grevillea is no less so for the 
diversity of appearance presented by the different species, so 
much so, indeed, that Drown himself, the author of it, was 
led away into the error of mistaking no less than seven of 
the species, which he raised to the dignity of so many 
genera; Salisbury also named two more as heads of new 
genera, so that Grevillea now stands saddled with nine 
synonymes. All Proteads are apetalous, that is, the flowers 
have no petals, but the calyxes lengthen out, and are 
coloured like petals in the genus before us, and in others. 
Botanists apply the term perianth to this form of flower, as 
they do to the flowers of the tulip, hyacinth, gladiolus, &c., 
of all which the real petals cannot well be made out from 
the sepals, or divisions of the calyx. B. J. 
Propagation and Culture .—Many of the Grevilleas produce 
seeds freely in this country, by which they are easily in¬ 
creased. March is the best time to sow them, and a sandy 
compost, with loam and peat, or, say, two-tliirds peat and 
one-tliird loam, with enough of sand to make the whole 
loose, is the best compost for the seeds and seedlings; a 
smart bottom-heat to get the seeds to vegetate quickly is 
also a sure step for almost all greenhouse seeds; hut as 
soon as the seedlings are fairly up, the pots should be 
changed to a cool, airy place, and be shaded from the sun 
for a while, for fear of scorching the young things. For 
cuttings, choose the half-ripened tops of the small side- 
shoots; an inch-and-a half will be long enough. Thumb- 
pots are by far the best for amateurs to put in all cuttings 
of liard-wooded plants ; the compost should be at least one- 
half sand and the other half of peat, screened quite fine; 
then a quarter-of-an-incli of sand on the top in which to fix 
the cuttings quite firm, so that the bottoms of them rest on 
the compost, into which the young roots delight to run as 
soon as they are formed, and from vdiich they are- easily 
separated when it is time to pot them off. Let the thumb- 
pot be thus filled, then watered, after that pressed down, 
and planted close round the side, then watered gently to 
press the sand close to the cuttings, and when the cuttings 
are nearly dry, plunge the little pot into another pot a little 
larger, and filled with sand over a good drainage, and a 
wine-glass, or small bell-glass, will cover the cuttings and 
pot; then, if the sand in the outer pot is kept moist, the 
cuttings will want very little of it. The pots should not be 
put into bottom-heat until the cuttings are near rooting. 
When the young plants from seeds or cuttings are four 
inches long, stop them by merely taking out the top bud, to 
cause them to come branchy from the bottom. This Grevillea 
seems a free-branching plant, and, therefore, will not require 
so much stopping afterwards as some of the species. When 
it comes to a flowering size, the best ivay is to prime it 
pretty close as soon as the flowers are over, and to encourage 
a free grow'th. A month or six weeks in a close warm pit, 
or the cool end of a stove, would make up for the lost time 
in pruning so late. Woody plants like this which bloom in 
April, or early in May, should never be pruned in the spring ; 
and fresh potting them before they flower does little good, 
unless they are pot-bound. It requires a generous open 
compost when old enough to flower, say one-half peat and 
one-half loam, with a little sand and leaf-mould, to make 
the whole mellow, rich, and free for the water to pass 
through freely. D. Beaton. 
The Vine—Planting, Pruning, &c. —Some corres¬ 
pondents having inquired as to the proper time for 
planting the vine, together with a list of useful kinds, 
&c., we proceed to discuss the matter; and, at the same 
time, offer a little advice about pruning. 
As to planting; the vine will grow, planted at almost 
any season, but merely growing is not the present ques¬ 
tion, which is, as to the most successful period. Every¬ 
body prefers the vine raised from what are called “ eyes, 
that is to say, single buds, the plants from which bear 
a closer resemblance to seedlings, perhaps, than by any 
other mode of propagation ; for whilst layers are but too 
apt to produce roots on one side only, those Irom eyes 
will throw out roots equally in all directions; and that 
