352 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 6. 
richest and best contrasted bed she lias seen last season 
was bordered with this variegated plant. I t was a large, 
round bed, raised considerably in the centre, and was 
entirely filled with the purple or dark purple Zelinda 
Dahlia, trained down towards the sides, but upright in 
the middle, and bordered with an eighteen-iuches-wide 
border of this Alyssum. There was a small circular bed 
of this Zelinda at the Crystal Palace last summer. As 
you went up the Rose mount from the centre of the 
garden, it stood on the right hand, near the bottom of 
the rise ; the plants were trained, but they stood too far 
apart to make any striking appearance, ft was a good 
bit lost, for the thousands who saw it might be more 
prejudiced than otherwise against this, the best of all 
the Dahlias for the flower-garden, when one knows where 
to introduce it. 
CUTTINGS OF GERANIUMS. 
All those bedding Geraniums which do not strike from 
cuttings during the blooming season should now be 
put into heat, and not allowed to rest until a full stock 
of plants for next summer are on their own roots. The 
least known of these is Touchstone, an old kind, which 
was all but lost a lew years since, hut is getting up 
again as fast as they propagate it. A full tale about it 
will be found in our volume for 1852. Purple Unique is 
another that ought to be propagated in February and 
March. Lady Alary Fox ought also to bo from spring 
cuttings, as although it will root well enough in summer, 
such cuttings, or rather plants from such, will never be 
so full and bushy, as they follow rather after the lanky 
state of flower-wood. The new variegated sport from 
the Prince of Orange, and called Odorata, is another of 
this class, and must be increased in the spring. I long 
to see an edging of young plants of this, as the varie¬ 
gation in the leaf is different from all other variegated 
Geraniums. It was a radical mistake to have called this 
plant by a new name. The Prince of Orange is the best 
kuown of all the very old Geraniums, and Variegated 
Prince of Orange ought to have been the name for this 
sport; then every one would know, or could easily find out, 
what it was, and what it was good for; whereas, thousands 
decline to buy new plants for fear of being deceived. 
The Golden Chain Geranium need not, and should not, 
be put into heat for cuttings; the only way to get abun¬ 
dance of cuttings from it is to plant it out-of-doors in 
summer ; never to make a cutting of it in summer or 
autumn, but to leave the shoots till about the end of 
February, when they will root easier than auy other 
kind, provided the cuttings are in pure sand and nothing 
else. I have struck pieces of the Golden Chain, which 
are five and six years old, as easily as last summers' 
growth. You may dock it down to the stump, and every 
inch will make a cutting; it would be waste to make 
them longer till you had 500 plants of it, at least. Very 
probably, they have 2500 plants of it by this time at 
Shrubland Park, and it is questionable if all the rest of 
it in Europe would count so much. D. Beaton. 
ERECTING GREENHOUSES AND OTHER 
GLASS HOUSES. 
“ The spring is coming on, and among those who 
intend erecting greenhouses are myself and two friends; 
but in this rural district we have no greenhouse builders, 
and we have a difficulty in obtaining any plans; much 
more are we unable to get plans with late improvements. 
Do you consider it would bo proper for the ‘ Amateur 
Gardener’s Teacher,’ for such is your periodical, to give 
a short series of papers, with plans of good greenhouses 
and conservatories? I think it would be generally ac¬ 
ceptable. My own wish is to erect a lean-to facing 
the south, but with sides open east and west; about 
twenty-three feet long. (How wide should it be in good 
proportion ?) I should like to have a small portion, say 
eight or nine feet, glazed off, to keep at a higher tempera¬ 
ture, and in this portion to have a pit for forcing Roses, 
cuttings, seeds, &c. I should wish to know whether 
hot-water or flue is the best, and if a tank would be 
required. May I grow Grapes in the larger part without 
damage to the general stock of flowers, such 'as Gera¬ 
niums, Fuchsias, Aehimines, &c. ? I should not want 
them very early. Do you recommend Hartley's rough 
plate, or other glass? 1 am told that there arc plans by 
which the cost of these houses is reduced to a compara¬ 
tively small amount, such as by having rafters above, 
and not sash-lights, &c.; but 1 do not know whether 
such is generally approved. There would be such a 
number of questions to ask, that I dare not venture to 
say more, but hope you will give us working plans and 
descriptions of these necessary buildings, remembering, 
at the same time, that which 1 hope you pay largely to, 
the double Income-tax. May I, now that I am writing 
to you, remark that ‘ Adverliscments ’ are a very useful 
part of a Gardener's Magazine. Whether your charge is 
too high, or whether there is other reason, 1 know not; 
but there are not half the number of advertisements 
which we wish to sec; consequently, we do not buy many 
things which we otherwise should. 1 only wish the 
gardeners would describe as much as the owners do those 
‘ tiresome Cochins.’ 
“ ‘ Suum cuique,’ however, and I think the professionals 
would do better if they set forth their articles to the 
amateurs more than they do.—W. F. G.” 
Wc have been asked to publish a series of working 
plans for such houses as our correspondent alludes to in 
the above letter; but there are several reasons why this 
cannot be acceded to. First, the expense of correct 
drawings, and then of engraving them, is considerable. 
Secondly, they would be of comparatively little advan¬ 
tage, because every builder of a small house would 
imagine that there was something so peculiar iu his 
own position and circumstances as to demand a peculiar 
working plan for these identical circumstances. Thirdly, 
almost every imaginable form of house has been dis¬ 
cussed in these pages, and yet the inquiries every week 
are just as numerous as ever, whieh 1 am heartily glad 
of for two reasons—the one, that the double Income-tax 
has not quite knocked out the love of tender plauts, and 
because this is a standing subject, to which we may at 
any time revert. Fourthly, I have, for myself, an 
objection to enter into such specifications of such plans 
as to price of materials, &c., so as to calculate what a 
house of a given size would come to,—as auy thing of 
the kind I have hitherto approached has brought upon 
me whole packets of letters, some averring that things 
could be done for much less than my calculation, while 
others as strenuously insisted such works could not be 
done by them for double the money; and perhaps both 
parties might be right, so much does the cartage and 
carriage of materials, in some cases, enhance the value 
aud expense of work. And the last reason why such 
plans are now loss necessary, is, that the matter is so 
thorougly understood, that a common bricklayer and 
carpenter can, from spoken instructions, manage the 
whole matter easily. If good workmen, however, and 
thoso used to the work, are not to be found in the 
neighboui'hood, the best plan, for economy and securing 
good workmanship, is to contract with a house builder, 
in some town, or in London, for the whole affair without 
any extras —such as those who advertise in these pages 
—and the result generally will be satisfaction. No 
carpenter in the country, without the benefit of a saw¬ 
mill and other conveniences, could make sash-bars, &c., 
in competition with those who have all the helps of 
machinery to aid them. 
