January 9. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
279 
pulse to the roots to branch in it; hut, until they Jo so 
freely, be rather chary of water at the roots, but limit 
the perspiring processes from the stem an J young shoots, 
by frequent dustings from the syringe, and a slight shade 
in hot sunshine. Ere long, shoots and roots will act and 
react on each other, and the former will be coming away 
nicely. To the terror of the amateur who doats on a 
nice, compact, bushy specimen, he perceives that the 
upper young shoots are coming away strongly, while 
there is scarcely any movement in those at the base of 
the main shoots of last year. Now we are not at all 
alarmed, because this is just as we expected. As soon ' 
.as two or three of these young shoots approach two 
inches in length, they are slipped oil' close to the old 
stem with a sharp knife, a few of the little bits of leaves 
at tho base are removed, and then you have such nice, 
pretty cuttings, that even a grumbler could not say a 
word against them. 
I otteu wish I could write as well as think about 
two or three things at one and the same time. The j 
great Loudon had so accustomed himself to concentra¬ 
tion of thought, and had grooved his brain, as it 
were, into so many distinct channels, that he could 1 
dictate to several amanuenses, writing on different | 
subjects, at the same time. Poor pigmies that we are; \ 
we can hardly give a hurried description of a simple j 
process without getting somewhat confused. Just so 
with these pretty little cuttings, and the making of | 
them so nicely. Something ought to have been done 
before. A clean three or four-inch pot should have ] 
been selected, half-filled with drainage, the one-quarter ! 
remaining he Idled with sandy peat and loam, and the j 
upper quarter with pure white sand. That three or four- 
inch pot should then he set inside of a five or a six-inch ■ 
pot, and the space between them stuffed with clean 
moss; plunge the double pot then in the hotbed, and ; 
place a bell-glass in the space between the two pots, and 
let the whole remain long enough in the bed until all 
the contained matter is sufficiently warmed, before the ; 
cutting is taken off. Then insert two or three of these 
cuttings close to the sides of the iuner pot; water, to 
settle the sand firmly about their base; when the tops 
are dryish, place the bell glass tight on, in the space 
between the inner and outer pot, and take the pre¬ 
caution, after a few days, to lift one side of the glass a 
little at night, to admit air and prevent damping. Pro¬ 
ceed in the same way, until going downwards you have 
gradually removed all the young shoots, except the two, 
four, or half a-dozen, you intend to leave nearest the 
base; and to ensure equality of growth among them, you 
may find it necessary to pinch out the point of the upper 
shoots left, that the lower ones and they may start in j 
the race with an equal chance of success. When these j 
lower shoots are coming freely away, you may then cut j 
off close to them the stripped stem, from which you 1 
have taken the shoots. By this plan you will secure 
some pretty, nice, young plants, at the expense of having 
your specimen older plant flowering some eight or ten 
days later than if you bad pruned back at an earlier ! 
period. 
Now, let us go back to this worthy old plant with 1 
which we started. It is growing away in a smaller, or a 
similar sized pot, compared with what it occupied last ; 
year. It seems to root freely; but the shoots come 
slowly, and you yet see little of those cabbage-like leaves 
in size that give such massive dignity to this tribe of 
plants. Never mind this a bit. If you have ever grown 
a Vino in a pot, in a hotbed, you will recollect how 
much more the rooting seemed to exceed the stem¬ 
lengthening and thickening process. Just so with these 
Clerodeudrons. Secure good rooting, and rich feeding, 
and fine foliage, and large heads of bloom follow 
legitimately, as a matter of course. 
.Supposing, then, that the plant is in a smallish 
pot, do not allow it to become root-bound early, or 
you will have an early show of bloom, when there i 
is not strength to give either large heads of flowers, I 
or large loliage at the base of the pyramid. As soon, 
therefore, as the roots get to the sides of a smallish | 
pot, shift into a good size larger, and if a fine result 
is wanted, shift again. A pot from twelve to eighteen ! 
inches in diameter will grow a fine specimen. As l 
soon as the roots begin to feel the sides of such a i 
sized pot, the leaves will begin to increase in size; j 
rich surfacings and manure-waterings should then j 
he given, and while the heat is not reduced, more air 1 
should he imparted, and steam and damp he prevented 
resting on the leaves. The shoots should be tied out so 
as to have plenty of room, aud before the flower-stem ! 
appears, the foliage should he at least fifteen inches j 
from the glass, that there may be no danger of burnings 
and scaldings; aud as the flower-head increases in size, 
and begins to open some of its flowers, the pot should 
not only be frequently twisted round, to prevent 
rooting through, but should gradually be raised out of 
the material in which it is plunged; doing this by bit 
and bit at a time, for a week or so, as a suitable prepa¬ 
ration for removing the whole plant to a drier and 
cooler atmosphere. A warm greenhouse, or an inter¬ 
mediate house, are the best positions for retaining for 
the longest periods the beauty of the plant. 
Then, with respect to those nice little cuttings: if 
shaded a little in sunshine, gently damped then, if they 
required it, and the bell-glass tipped up half-an-inch on 
one side at night, and put close down again at breakfast 
time, and the bottom-heat was as near 80° as possible, 
a little above rather than below, then, in the course of 
three weeks, or so, each of these cuttings would want a 
little pot for itself, and a four-inch one will generally be 
sufficient. Plunge that when potted ; water, and shade 
from the brightest sunshine, and, ere long, you will 
require to give them a shift into a five, six, or seven- 
inch pot, and plunge agaiu. When tho roots come to 
the sides of the pot, give rich dressings or manure- 
waterings, and more air as soon as the flower-hunch 
appears, and raise out of the bed as the first blossoms 
open. When a good number are expanded, a closish 
greenhouse will then suit the plants well, and both in 
the case of these young, single-stemmed plants, and the 
older plants, the more sun the stems get in the autumn, 
with just sufficient water to keep them from flagging, 
the riper will the wood he,—the better will the shoots 
keep over the winter,—aud the better will the buds start 
when subjected to a higher temperature in spring. 
The kinds 1 have found to answer such treatment best, 
are Fallax, Kccmpferii, and paniculatum. Devonianum, 
Macroplvyllum, and Bethamiana, I have no doubt will 
answer equally well. The old, well-known native of 
China, the fragrans Jlore plena, with its sweet flowers 
and leaves with the odour of ground peas, though hardy 
enough to thrive well in our greenhouses, yet succeeds 
much better under such treatment as described above, 
with the exception of giving a lower air temperature by 
five degrees, and a lower root temperature of ten degrees. 
Young shoots of these, struck quickly, also produce nice 
little heads of bloom, aud half-a-dozen of these in an 
eight inch pot, the plants scarcely more in height, would 
please those who like a mass of bloom on dwarf plants. 
Moss the surface of the pot, and none need be the wiser 
that you have six plants instead of one. 
I have never grown Bungeii, introduced or raised by 
the Messrs. Henderson. I believe that the whole 
aspect of the plant would say that its culture was easy, !* 
and that its proper position, when growing, would ho a 
medium between what I have described as suitable for j 
Iuempferii, and the hardier fragrans, approaching 
nearer, however, to the latter in mode of growth, hardi¬ 
ness, &o. 
