December 25 . 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
193 
pebble for an hour in the evening and morning will 
change and sweeten the confined air. By-and-by this 
tilting may remain on all night. When roots are form¬ 
ing, and growth proceeding, the glasses will only be 
required during the day. Discontinuance during sun¬ 
shine must be effected very gradually. When rooted, 
and thus gradually hardened, the pots should be set by 
themselves, so that they be not debilitated by the treat¬ 
ment given to those not struck. When those ready are 
pricked or potted off, they should again be kept close 
until fresh growth has commenced. Those not rooted 
by the middle of September had better remain in the 
cutting-pots all winter, and receive a stimulus in spring. 
The mode of treatment we have already anticipated; 
as an addition to these many minutiae, use pure soft- 
water only, when water is necessary. R. Fish. 
Jf the arrangements recommended are attended to, all 
the finer kinds may be placed close to the sides of the 
pots. The cuttings cannot be made too firm, but one 
press with the dibber will do that more effectually than 
a dozen. Instead of poaching the sand, fill up the one 
hole with a little fresh sand, press it down with the 
point of the finger, and then, with a fine rose, water all 
over, and, as soon as the moisture drains away, each cut¬ 
ting will bo held by the sand firm enough. The pots 
may then be set in an airy, shady place, and when the 
cuttings are dry, and not before, the bell-glasses should 
be placed tightly over them, their lower rims entering a 
little into the sand, so as to prevent air entering. This 
brings us 
•ttlily. To the Position and circumstances in which the 
Cuttings should now he placed. —As a general rule, the 
cuttings should be kept closer and at a higher tempera¬ 
ture than the plants whence they were taken. But 
circumstances must greatly modify that general rule; 
for instance, hero are cuttings of free-growing kinds 
from plants slightly forced into growth in spring; an 
average temperature of from 55° to 90°, or a rise of from 
10° to 15° over what at that time would suit the old 
plants, would answer well. But in the end of summer, 
autumn, and the beginning of winter, a rise of 5° would 
be amply sufficient, just because, in such circumstances, 
our object is chiefly to maintain the vital powers in slow 
action until the return of spring; and this in all cases 
where we cannot calculate on roots being emitted before 
winter. Again, in striking in the middle of summer, it 
will be of importance, by means of shading, and a north 
aspect, to get a cooler atmosphere than could then be 
obtained with a south aspect, although the pots be 
plunged in a medium that would yield a few more 
degrees of heat than the pots otherwise would receive 
on the average. It is of importance that the bottom 
temperature should be a few degrees higher than the 
atmospheric. When the latter exceeds the former, the 
tops are elongated before there is root action. Hence, 
though propagators succeed perfectly well by placing 
their jmts with cuttings on shelves and stages, there is 
less labour and risk, provided damp is guarded against, 
when the pots are plunged fully three-parts into a bed 
of anything that yields a nice sweet, mild bottom-heat. 
Though pits, and frames, and a comer of a greenhouse, 
may all bo made eligible for this purpose, yet where 
much is done the best covenience is a pit or frame 
inside of a house, and furnished with sashes in the usual 
manner. The pots being plunged in this pit, air may 
be given by tilting the sashes at the back; in dull 
weather they may come off altogether; and in bright 
weather, when kept on, there will be less necessity for 
shading, as the rays of light will become more diffused 
before reaching the cuttings, after passing the glass of 
the house, the glass of the pit, and then the bell-glass, 
and yet the weakening influence of shading be avoided. 
Stilly. General Treatment. —Wherever the cutting-pots 
are placed, let them have as much light as they can stand; 
but they must never be allowed to flag, either from sun 
or dryness. The first is easily counteracted by having 
caps of paper for each glass, and that is better than 
covering a frame, if you had one, for all cuttings will not 
need it alike. Damp and dryness arc alike prejudicial, 
and the risks from both are increased by flat-headed 
glasses, as you must wipe them almost every morning, 
and thus you remove the moisture from the pots, if 
the pots are prepared as recommended, the watering may 
easily be given to the sand without touching the cut¬ 
tings ; but if so wetted, or if a rose is used, be sure the 
cuttings are dry before putting the bell-glass firm on. 
If, in watering in the morning, the cuttings should not 
dry quick, and you should be afraid of the sun, put the 
bell-glass on, but tilt it a little on one side that the cut¬ 
tings may be dried. In a short time tilting with a small 
FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 
MR. GLENNY ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
WHAT SHOULD A ROSE BE ? 
Roses appear to be the favoured flower among all 
classes, and, although we see hundreds of gardens with¬ 
out Dahlias, Hollyhocks, and many other distinguished 
favourites, it is all but impossible to find even a cottage- 
garden without Roses; and, as if instinct led the poorest 
man to get the best, the old Cabbage and the old Moss, 
are the general favourites. It may well be asked how 
many of the thousand novelties, palmed upon the public, 
will beat these two? And then, again, of the China 
kinds, how many will be found to surpass the originals, 
the China Crimson and the pale one, which furnishes the 
cottage fronts with roses nearly all the year? Not but 
that we can find many highly worthy of commendation 
and cultivation; but overlooking all the faults of the Moss 
and Cabbage for their boldness and fragrance, and the 
deficiencies of the two Chinas for their perpetual bloom, 
they are not easily surpassed for their peculiar beauties. 
The qualities of a Rose should be fragrance, lasting 
bloom, cloublencss, roundness, colour, habit, and abun¬ 
dant bloom. Fragrance speaks for itself; lasting bloom 
can only be secured by thick petals; doubleness gives the 
richness which a fully-bloomed Cabbage or Moss Rose 
possesses in an eminent degree ; roundness is a quality 
which even our old favourites do not possess; because, 
to meet this quality, it should be half a ball; colour is 
matter of taste, except that a novel colour justifies adop¬ 
tion if ever so ugly ; witness Jaune Deprez, nothing but 
a struggle between dirty straw-colour and dirty pink ; 
but it was, in its day, new; habit relates to the plant; 
it should be short-jointed, foliage rich and glossy, the 
flowers on stems long enough to throw out the flowers 
beyond the leaves, and the bloom should be abundant 
and continuous. A summer Rose is beautiful for a 
month, but a continuous Rose, of half the qualities in 
the single flower, is worth a hundred, if it continue in 
bloom all the autumn. Nobody should plant summer 
Roses as the feature in a garden, because there is nothing 
meaner than a Rose-bush, or tree, out of flower. All the 
main features should be formed with varieties that bloom 
six months. 
The recognised properties of a fine Rose, no matter 
what its habit, are, 1. The petals should be thick, broad, 
and smooth at the edges. 2. The flower should be highly 
perfumed. 3. The flower should be double to the centre, 
high on the crown, round in the outline, and regular in 
the disposition of the petals. 
Additional Properties for Moss Roses. — The 
quantity of moss, the length of the spines, or prickles, 
which form it, and its thickness or closeness on ( tlie 
stems, cannot be too great. The length of the divisions 
of the calyx, and the ramifications at the end of each 
lobe of the calyx, cannot be too great. 
