8 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Aprii. 3. 
stanced last week how the stem of the Pelargonium may¬ 
be cut into pieces for cuttings. Many other soft-wooded, 
and hard-wooded plants, too, will succeed in the same 
manner, if you are content to give them time. Other 
things being equal, the older and harder the wood of the 
cutting, the longer will it be in striking. The younger 
the wood is, provided it is just hard enough at the base 
to possess a sufficiency of organisable material, the 
sooner it will strike; if too soft and spongy it will rot 
and damp off; hence the general time for propagating 
is regulated by the general time of pruning and fresh 
| growth taking place. Small side shoots, from to 
3 inches in length, just getting firm at the base, cut to 
a point with a clean sharp knife, or taken off close to 
the older branch, and a few of the lower leaves removed, 
will succeed in the great majority of cases. It is desir¬ 
able to get them in in April or May, in the case of slow 
growing plants, to have them established before winter. 
I have said so much on propagating, that I shall merely 
specify a few requisites; 1st, clean pots; 2nd, secure 
drainage by an inverted small pot inside a larger one, 
or by crocks so as to fill it three-quarters full; 3rd, 
place rough material or moss over the drainage to 
prevent the finer soil washing through it; 4th, cover 
it with an inch or so of sandy soil, similar to what 
the plants delight in, if a little charcoal is added all the 
better, finishing with a layer of pure sand, watering all 
well and then allowing it to drain before inserting the 
cuttings; 5th, insert the cuttings firmly, fill the small 
holes made by the dibber with sand, dew all over with 
the fine rose of a watering pot, allow the foliage to 
become dry, place each pot under a bell-glass or a number 
under a hand-light, and shade from the sun, either in a 
corner of the greenhouse, or better still in a close frame 
or pit without any artificial heat being applied, at least 
none before the cutting begins to swell at its base. 
Some things may have bottom heat at once, especially 
| those that have been a little forced previously. Though 
shade be indispensable, yet as much light as the cuttings 
will endure must be given, increasing the quantity gra¬ 
dually, I lately recommended conical instead of flat- 
headed glasses, and did the same thing many years ago. 
I perceive in a contemporary, that in a large celebrated 
establishment, the superiority of these has now been 
discovered. 
Sowing Seeds. —This may be done at any time when 
the seeds are thoroughly ripe. As it is of importance to 
have the seedlings potted off and established before 
winter, April and May are the best periods in several 
circumstances. Where there is no hotbed the latter 
j period will be the best, and even then, for confining 
heat and moisture, the pot should be covered with a bell- 
! glass, or a square of glass laid over it. Where there is 
a hotbed, such as a cucumber frame, the seeds may be 
sown a month or six weeks earlier, and hardened off as 
soon as they are fairly up and potted off. In sowing any 
light sandy soil will do; for all fine hairy-rooted plants 
sandy peat is the best. The pots should be nearly as 
well drained as for cuttings, watered and allowed to drain 
| before sowing, as the less water they have afterwards 
until they are up the better. Hard seeds that have 
1 been kept dry over the winter will vegetate all the sooner 
for being steeped several hours in warm water, say from 
13° to 14°. In covering the seeds the thickness should 
! be regulated by the size of the seeds. Hence, for very 
1 small dusty seeds, the surface of the fine soil should be 
' made smooth, the seeds evenly scattered over it and 
slightly pressed in, and then just dusted with a little 
fine saud, but in unpractised hands it is safer to be 
content with the slight pressing in, with a clean round 
board having a nail in the centre to hold by, and then 
place a square of glass over the pot, with moss or paper 
above to shade until vegetation has taken place. 
After treatment of Cuttings and Seedlings. —This is 
almost identical. Neither cuttings nor seedlings, if at 
all thick, will thrive long in the cutting and seedling 
pot. The sooner they are potted off the better they 
will thrive. Before that, air must be given to prevent 
them damping; first at night; next,night, morning, and 
evening; and lastly, when roots are well formed, during 
the day removing the glasses altogether from the cut¬ 
tings : all this time, the little moisture necessary must 
be carefully given. The less it touches either the stems 
or leaves the better. When a little advanced, dust them 
overhead with a fine rose watering pot, or a syringe, 
but be careful to have the foliage dry before shutting up 
for the night. I am alluding to touchy things, and have 
previously shown that with the half-hardy and robust 
no such care is necessary. In potting off tender 
plants that are very small, three or four may be put 
round the sides of a four-inch pot; a strong growing 
one into such a |iot at once. In every such potting, 
and every time that reshifting is necessary, a moist close 
atmosphere is of importance for a short time afterwards; 
thus lessening, by means of shading and syringing, the 
evaporating processes until the roots have begun to work 
in the new soil, when air must be given, first gradually, 
and ultimately plentifully. 
Resting. —“ Is there no rule by which we may at once ; 
know when and whether a plant wants resting?” No, 
not that I am aware of. If there were, gardening would 
be so easy that it would lose the best of its interest, and 
thinking and inquiring gardeners would even be less 
valued than they now are. There is quite as much 
difference among plants as there is among animals. 
The subject is too largo to be dealt with in a general 
way. A few glances will show this. There is a bulb 
that has flowered some time ago, its foliage is now 
beginning to turn yellow, and this tells you to give up 
the watering pot for the season. After being kept dry, 
and it begins to vegetate, it will thank you for fresh 
earth and water. There is another plant that has been j 
kept growing freely until the flower-bud is formed on 
the points of the young shoot; but the beauty and robust- j 
ness of the flower depend upon that bud swelling slowly 
in a cool airy atmosphere. Here is a deciduous plant i 
that blooms in summer; when done flowering it is ex¬ 
posed to the full sun and air; in winter it is kept cool 
and comparatively dry, and only excited into growth by 
the returning warmth of spring. Other plants there are 
that bloom in winter and spring on shoots of the pre¬ 
vious summer’s growth ; witness the Epacris impresses, 
the fewer the shoots, the more beautiful the long wreaths 
of bloom, but only if these shoots are fully perfected, 
without that you may have fine looking shoots and no 
bloom on them. Therefore, by the end of July, we 
begin to think less of the growing principle than of the 
maturing, and hence we cannot get a place too airy or 
sunny for them; taking care, however, that the roots 
are not scorched. Except in such cases of winter 
flowering plants, it is advisable to give all plants a rest 
from low temperature in winter, as sturdy growth can 
only be secured by proportioning our heat to light. 
Little assimilation of fresh matter takes place in dull 
weather in winter; mere expansion by beat is not addi¬ 
tion, the less we have of the former without the latter 
the better it will be. 
We hope these hints (far from satisfying ourselves) 
will not damp our correspondents ardour, but rather j 
engage them in the pleasing pursuit of knowing as much j 
as possible of the plants they grow. With their little j 
greenhouses they cannot do much with the plants de- i 
scribed by Mr. Appleby, but for obtaining an insight 
into the principle of resting plants, &c., they will derive 
the greatest advantage from studying those most excel¬ 
lent practical essays. R. Fish. 
