278 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
should be made right along, and crossways. It was a 
hard pull, certainly, but it answered as perfectly as any¬ 
thing I ever saw done; no carpet is more firm to tread 
on now, nor more comfortable. A new mowing machine 
was set to work where you could hardly see any grass to 
get hold of; but it did get hold of a good heavy bite of 
moss and grass together, and the machine bit so close 
that a child could not now pick a handful of moss till his 
fingers were tired. The grass is on the move already, 
looking quite green, while the remains of the rnoss is all 
brown. The lawn will he as soft with moss as is pleasant 
for several years to come, or till we get such another mild 
winter as will allow of tho machine in the dead of the 
winter,—just tho right time to cut a heavy crop of moss 
to any advantage. But 1 forget how many grass-barrow- 
fuls of the soft mixture of grass and moss went to mulch 
the new plantation of evergreens. I also forget all 
that Mr. Wright said about his father and the moss, 
except, “If he had seen that, he would think it as 
strange as the railroads.” Perhaps he would; and if lie 
had seen trees planted without a good shaking, and 
fixed with cords, perhaps lie would consider it equally 
strange,—who knows hut he would ? 
SOWING DIELYTRA SPECTABILIS. 
I received, last autumn, two packets of seeds of this 
favourite plant from two correspondents; the one I 
sowed at the time, and kept the other till about the 
middle of February, as I expected all along that that 
being the natural time for the old roots to sprout, might 
he the right time for the germination of the seeds. I 
know several intauces among bulbs, whose seeds will not 
vegetate at any other time than that when the bulbs 
begin to grow; hut that the seeds should not possibly 
miss the proper attention, should they lie dormant all 
the winter, I put them in the centre of a pot of 
Geranium seedlings, which were only round the sides. 
On the 12th of December, I saw two seed-leaves rising; 
they looked like the first leaves of a Carrot, and three 
weeks after that tho true leaf appeared, and I do not 
think there will he any difficulty in rearing tho young 
thing. To make more sure of my pets, [ placed a bell- 
glass over tho centre-of the pot, and that may have 
caused this seed to sprout prematurely. In future, the 
safest plan will ho to keep the seeds till about the end 
of February, and then sow them, and they will 
i vegetate soon after that. D. Beaton. 
CLERODENDRONS. 
Some inquiries having been made by amateurs, I give 
a comprehensive answer in this place, as the culture of 
the plants has not recently been referred to. 
1. “What is the proper treatment for Clerodendrons? 
When should they he re-potted? How should the new 
one, called Bungeii, he managed?" The time of re-j 
potting will greatly depend upon whether yon mean to ! 
1 give them a general plant-stove treatment; or, merely : 
j as much heat in tho spring as you would give an early 
j Cockscomb or Balsam that you iutended to decorate the ! 
| greenhouse in summer. The time of re-potting will, j 
; therefore, he greatly influenced by the conveniences you 
i possess for giving a nice, sweet, moist heat, of from 00° 
I to 70°. Commencing from tho present time, we would, 
as a general rule, continue the winter treatment until 
| towards the beginning of March. Supposing that tho 
wood was pretty well ripened in the autumn, by ex- 
| posure to the sun after the flowers were fading or gone, 
-—for much of the size and beauty of the flowers in the 
following summer depends upon tho ripening of tho 
wood and buds during the previous autumn, — the 
i vviuter treatment will consist in keeping the plants in a 
temperature ranging from 43° to 50°, with a rise from | 
January 9. 
sunshine, and giving no more water than will just pre¬ 
vent the stems from shrivelling. 
Now, supposing that the plants have been kept in 
this dormant state during the winter, and you wish to 
start them into growth some time in March, or earlier,— 
the great desideratum for their high culture is a posi¬ 
tion where you can give them a bottom-heat—if from 
fermenting matter all the better—of from 70° to 80°, and 
a top-heat from 55° to G5°. Mind, I do not advise 
bringing a plant from 45°, and giving it this rise of 
temperature at once. All changes should be gradual ; 
bursts, and gallops, and harlc-a-ways , are not the things 
for gardening. The plants should not ho plunged at 
first, and more air should be given at the commence¬ 
ment, so that the highest rate of temperature should he 
roached, by a gradual process, in tho course of eight or 
ten days. 
The great points of the increased temperature and a 
sweet bottom-heat being secured, the whole tribe has 
so much patience and quiet resignation amid all the 
injuries and loppings to which they may be exposed, 
that they generally thrive so well as to show no resent¬ 
ment, though some of the recognised rules of vegetable 
culture may, in their case, have been transgressed and 
broken. 1 have taken such plants from their winter 
quarters, beneath a stage, or any out-of-the-way place, 
have pruned the shoots down to within a bud or two of 
their base, have then shaken the earth from the roots, re¬ 
potted them in a clean, similar-sized pot, and plunged the 
pot, and gave a little warm water. After pruning down, 
I have placed such a plant in heat, that it might push 
before re-potting. I have also started tho plant before 
either pruning or potting, deferring both until the shoots 
were a couple of inches or so in length, and then 
removing the upper ones gradually, leaving only as 
many near the base as I wished the plants to carry 
shoots and heads of flower; and I could hardly say 
which, after all, was most successful in producing well 
grown and well-bloomed plants. 
As, however, 1 am treating of the case of an amateur, 
who might never have room to grow a plant when older 
than two years of age; and as few things in small 
houses, be they warm greenhouses or plant-stoves, are 
more pretty at the end of summer than small plauts of 
these Clerodendrons, in a five-inch pot, with a single 
stem, a foot or so in height, and terminating in a fine 
umbel, or spike of bloom ; 1 will shortly state the mode 
I have frequently adopted to secure a fair sized specimen, 
and also a number of these pretty little plants; the best 
of all for future stock 
Supposing, then, that we have now got a nice plant, 
the soil in a dry state, but not so dry as to injure its 
one or several stems, from twelve to eighteen inches in 
length, the soft, unripened part of the end of the stem 
having been previously removed, I would place such a 
plant in the position referred to in the beginning of 
March, increasing the temperature gradually, and with 
that increase giving more dampings to the stem, and 
waterings at the root, with water about 80°. Ere long 
the buds will break into little shoots, and when from 
three-quarters to one inch in length, 1 would shake the 
old earth from the roots, pruning these roots only slightly, 
if any appeared worn-out or going to decay. Before 
doing this, however, I would have secured a nice clean 
pot, either of the same size, or most likely a less size, 
than the plant was grown and wintered in, drained 
it well, and had a compost of fibry loam and peat, with 
a little charcoal and silver-sand to keep it light at first; 
well aired and warmed, so that when trundling the soil 
among the roots they should receive no chill; a little 
circumstance, which many amateurs, and young gar¬ 
deners, too, consider quite beneath their notice. Then, 
in such a bottom heat as indicated, plunge the pot to its 
rim, water a little just to settle the soil, and give an im- 
