C8 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
OCTOBKR 30. 
at the base; very attractive. Mrs. Blacliwoocl —French- 
white ; large aud line. Napoleon —mottled-white and 
purple; novel aud fine. O/’estes—rosy-crimson; extra 
fine and large. Pourpre de Tyre —rich dark purple; 
fine. Sir David Wedderhurn—difiik maroon ; fine. 
Sulphur sulphur; large and e.xtra fine. White 
(Jlobe— whitG; fine shape, large, and close. Yellow 
Model —large yellow; very fine. Queen of Crimson — 
bright crimson; large. Blach Prince —black. Crimson 
King —very bright, rich crimson; small and compact. 
Duchess of Sutherland—hr\^\ii rose, with a silvery tint. 
SAYING OLD GERANIUMS 
I WENT over, recently, to see Mr. Walton’s new pro¬ 
pagating case, of which lie is as confident as at first; 
but he says, which is quite true, that it is of no use to 
fight against Nature, by forcing her with bottom-heat 
late in the autumn, when all hardy and half-hardy plants 
are naturally going to rest. 
A hotbed is a good thing, however, at this season, for 
tliose who wish to keep old bedding-plants in ((■ small 
compass, more particularly the different breeds of Gera¬ 
niums which we grow in the borders, as, with a nice 
dry heat, at least as dry as is possible from a botbed, all 
the Geranium kinds may be cut in very close indeed, be 
potted in small pots, be put into the frame or pit for a 
month or five weeks, and by that time the roots would 
be well spread in the ball, and the fresh start from the 
bony skeleton beginning just to look green all over the 
hard branches. At that stage, it would be advisable to 
cease the top-heat by tilting tbe lights; but the pots 
might remain plunged till the roots began to get out 
through the bottom. Any degree, from 70° to 80°, would 
do for the bottom-heat, and from 00° to 05° for the top, 
all this time, and something very dry and sweet ought 
to be put for plunging the pots, aud for kee])ing down 
the bad smell, which is the most dangerous thing on eartli 
for plants, and most so at this season. But who wants to 
go to all this bother, when cuttings can be so easily got 
to root in September? Who? indeed. I can tell who 
had to do all this, and more of it, just this time fifteen 
years back. On the lOth of October, 1840, the first 
cutting for the next year was put in at Slirubland 
Park, and in May and June, 1841, 34,000 plants 
were planted out, besides seedlings. It was up-hill work 
all that November; but the secret lay in getting up, 
and potting, or boxing, every morsel from the beds which 
had a live root to it, aud working them off just as here 
described. Dry sawdust was the plunging material, 
dung and leaves for bottom-heat, and two-inch water- 
pi])es for top-heat; but a very light pit and frame had 
to be used to the extent of thirty-six lights. If I remem- 
' ber right, we had hotbeds of all sorts; but I recollect, 
I very well, that the great aim was to get as many cuttings 
I into a pot, and as many pots into a frame as jiossible, 
. and the same with old rooted plants. 
I Owing to one thing or another, sijnilar urgencies 
j occur every year of our lives, only we do not often hear 
I of them, because few like to tell when they get into a 
I fix of this kind. One of our readers, in Ireland, how- 
I ever, had the courage, the other day, to tell us that his 
, turn came round at last; that he is as bad off as I was 
j in 1840 ; that he made a hotbed, and that he w'ished to 
give a start to such aud such bedding-plants, which he 
was obliged to lift and put into pots, because he had no 
cuttings of them, and so forth, lie seemed, also, to have 
a siding to making cuttings of several things at this 
late season, as, by the help of the hothed, he might work 
against Nature with impunity. Well; it ia a dangerous 
expei'imeut for amateurs. When one 1ms plenty good 
and clover young gardeners at hia beck and call, and 
I has only to say do so and so, and they do it accordingly, 
! such experiments are no experiments at all—nothing 
but routine ; but I agree with Mr. Walton, that it is of 
“no use” to set hotbeds, or new' propagating cases, 
to work after the end of September with the above 
“ limitation.” 
I saw a Petunia in Mr. Walton’s greenhouse, the very 
finest house Petunia I ever saw'. It is a plain purple, 
aud it was the size aud shape of it which astonished 
me; but it must be recollected that I am no judge of 
the shapes of flowers. I never can see, nor conceive, a 
good flower to be of a bad shape. I could not find out 
the name of this Petunia; but Mr. Walton told me he 
had it from Mr. Jackson, at Kingston; and his gardener 
told me that it was a seedling raised by ISIr. Jackson 
himself, which I must learn, as every one who has a 
greenhouse ought to have a couple of them; but for a 
bed I should think the flowers are too big. They are 
like wind instruments, and if the wind got into the 
wrong end, it might blow beds and all right over the 
garden fence. 
What I w'ent for more particularly, was to take up all Mr. 
Walton’s old Tom Thumbs which he intended to throw 
away. I am going to try the following experiment on 
them this winter, and, if 1 succeed, it will be a good hit 
for some people. I intend to cut off every leaf of these 
old Tom Thumbs, but on no account to make a w'ound 
in the bark anywhere, not even in the roots, for I lifted 
them myself, and the gardener is to bring them over to 
me this afternoon, as the weather is so mild. I shall 
lay the leafless plants in by the heels fora month, or till 
the frost comes, just as we layBrocoli in at this season, 
the plants nearly lying on the ground, with the heads 
to the north, then a mat or two thrown loosely over 
them will keep the frost from them till I can arrange 
them for their winter quarters. Who knows but they 
may lay there till Christmas. Meantime, I shall spread 
out some good earth in a shed, to have it half dry, and I 
shall have narrow, rough boxes, but pots or hampers 
would do. I shall put in the roots just as if I were pot¬ 
ting them, and I shall give a little water to settle the 
[ earth about the roots, then let the boxes drain, and 
after that, I shall put one inch of dry, dusty, small 
ashes over the whole surface of the boxes, to keep down 
tbe damp, and place the boxes on bricks down in the 
cellar, which is as dry as a bone. I shall examine them 
once a month, to see if any damp or black specks appear 
I on the long, uncut shoots, and as soon as the top of the 
! shoots make two or three leaves, say towards the end of 
, February, 1 shall stop them by cutting off an inch or so, 
j and that must be done when the weather is dry and 
I windy, when I shall open ventilators in the front and 
back of the house, which give me a current of air all 
the summer througli the cellar. 
My object is this, to see how how late Tom Thumbs, 
as being the most tender and most difficult to keep 
in winter, may be kept out in the autumn; and as it 
would be dangerous to cut them down at that late 
season, where no greenhouse or hotbed is at hand to 
start them afresh, the wounds at the cut parts would be 
sure to fester, and difficult to cure. I shall avoid such 
wounds altogether; if the roots can be kept from being 
either too dry or too wet, 1 see no reason why they 
should not be as healthy and fresh as they are at this 
moment; and I could get lots of cuttings in March to 
strike in the first hotbed, and still have much bigger 
plants than by any other plan, short of potting and 
Vineries, or other warm houses to keep them; and I am 
perfectly convinced that the older any kind of Scarlet 
Geranium is, the better it will flower in a bed ; but 
; young ))lants do better in vases, where they must, of 
' necessity, be less fed at the roots; also, the older they 
avo, the easier they will keep, because the sterna are 
more woody, aud they will never get hide-bound, as you 
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