JfiT' 
June 5.1 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 153 
part covered with some finely-sifted, light, rich loam, j 
leaving the ends of the shoots out of the soil. These 
layers will quickly root, and form so many new plants i 
that will flower much stronger and longer than if left to 
grow wild, and, besides this, the centre of each plant 
will send forth fresh shoots, and these will flower late 
and finely. We have repeatedly acted upon this plan, 
with the greatest success. The layers we found made 
excellent plants to pot and store through the winter, 
and bloomed in these pots well the following season. 
The council of the Horticultural Society have ottered 
prizes for florists’ flowers in pots, acting, no doubt, upon 
the idea of the success that has attended the culture of 
roses in pots for exhibition purposes. If florists intend 
in future to compete for the prizes offered for Pansies in 
! pots, we would seriously advise them to try the method we 
; have recommended of layering their plants, and potting 
i the layers, when well established, in the pots they intend 
to exhibit them the next year. We feel confident suc¬ 
cess in the greatest degree will ensue from the experi¬ 
ment. The layers for such a purpose should be made 
1 about July, and be taken off’ in September, potted, and 
| placed in a cold situation till the middle of November, 
then placed under a cold frame, protection being given 
j only from heavy rain, snow, and frost. In early spring 
! they will be found strong, healthy, and ready to bloom 
j towards the end of April. Plants in bloom now, should 
be protected from the sun in bright clear days. Thin 
canvass will be found the best protective. Water will 
be necessary in dry weather; and when it is applied, 
let it be effectual, not the dribbling watering too often 
given, which really does more harm than good, but a 
| regular good soaking, that will reach down to the deep¬ 
est fibre. One such good watering, accompanied by 
the mulching mentioned above, will do more good than 
twenty sprinklings. Should the soil of the bed appear 
caked, hard, and cracked, stir the surface with a short 
three-pronged fork, carefully preserving the roots; pre¬ 
viously to watering it effectually, or, which is better, 
water well once, allow the surface to become dry, and 
then use the fork, and afterwards give the heavy dose of 
water. This will encourage the plants to grow prodi¬ 
giously and produce the finest bloom. 
Cuttings may now be taken off the plants. Previously 
prepare a piece of ground in a shady situation, not under 
the actual drip of a hedge or trees. The way to do this, 
is to remove a portion of the soil where the cuttings are 
to be placed; sift some fresh light loam and spread it 
over the surface, then cover this with a layer of fine 
sand; procure some hand-lights, square ones are the 
best, fix the first at one end of the prepared piece of 
ground, pressing it down to make a mark; lift it off 
again and place the cuttings within the mark. The 
] cuttings should be taken from the weaker shoots of the 
i plants, the strong branches being too coarse and sappy 
to strike readily, and are apt to damp off' immediately. 
I Number each lot of cuttings, so as to be able to know 
them again when they are fit to be planted out. When 
a hand-light is full the cuttings should stand just clear 
of each other; give a gentle watering to settle the earth 
firm to each cutting, then place on the hand-light, and 
proceed to fill the next. When all is finished, shade 
; pretty closely for a few days from the light of day, and 
i where a callosity is formed at the base of each, allow 
1 the light to reach them, but still shade them from the 
sun if his rays can reach them after eight o’clock in the 
morning. Observe whether they flag if the sun shines 
; upon them for an hour or two. If they do not, roots 
will be forming, and then they may have the full light, 
and a little air given to them daily. This is to prepare 
them for planting out when the roots are fully formed. 
T. ApplEby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Angelica. Presuming a sufficiency ere this to have | 
been secured for preserving, the bloom stalk, to prevent 
exhaustion, should be carefully taken off, with the ex¬ 
ception of a plaut or two left for seed. At the same time 
encouragement should be given by keeping the surface 
of the earth well open, and adding pretty free applica¬ 
tions of liquid manure. With respect to Angelica seed, 
we find the most certain method of obtaining plants is 
to sow the seed as soon as ripe; good strong plants will 
then be secured by the autumn, when the desired quan¬ 
tity may be put out on a well-prepared piece of ground. > 
If the soil be good, deep, and rich, and a loose surface j 
is maintained, with the assistance of occasional applica- | 
cations of liquid manure, very fine transparent stalks 
will be secured the following spring. 
Celery. To secure a heavy crop of good sized Celery, 
say, upon an average of from 4 tt>. to 0 lb. per plant 
at taking up time (which is about our average size), the 
piece of ground should now be chosen for the principal 
crop, and should be well manured and trenched to the 
depth of from twenty to twenty-four inches, the qua¬ 
lity of the subsoil being the guide:—the soil should, of 
course, be left in rough ridges. We generally choose 
our early cauliflower or early cabbage ground; either of 
which, by previous liberal trenchings, surface scarify¬ 
ing, and liberal soakings of liquid manure, being in pretty 
good condition; Hut the spinach ground, early pea 
or any other spare ground, well managed, will, of 
course, answer the purpose. When the planting season 
arrives, we measure out the ground into five or six feet 
beds, stretch the line across the ridges from end to end, 
and, with a shovel, cast out right and left a lew inches 
of the soil into what is to be the earthing space, which 
space is also left four or five feet wide between each 
Celery bed :—the width of this is regulated according to 
the richness of the soil, the season of planting, or the 
extent of ground to be spared. The width, however, is 
not very particular, so that it be sufficient to provide the 
desired quantity of earth for bleaching, and security 
against winter frost, as the space, whatever it may be, 
is, of course, at once cropped with useful vegetables in 
variety; the centre part with late Cauliflower, Gape 
Brocoli, or Coleworts, and the outsides, next the Celery, 
with Lettuce. Indeed, we often sow late Dwarf Peas in 
the centre of the trench, such as the Imperial Blue, A meri¬ 
can Dwarf, Fan Peas, &c., and the foregoing crop on each 
side. The Celery, of course, is planted crossways in 
these shallow trenches in beds, at the distance of from 
eight to ten inches, or even a foot. If early, and in¬ 
tended to be grown very large, an immense weight of 
Celery may be secured from a small space of ground, 
well managed, upon this principle; and for winter crop, 
what an extent may be thus easily and inexpensively 
secured against wet or frost. The old single row system 
of culture, where still carried out by those who require 
large supplies, now puts us in mind of the old things 
long laid by in the corner of curiosities, but cultivatng 
Celery upon the foregoing system economises the matter 
in various ways, for not only is space saved, but manure 
also, if desirable to confine it only to the width of the 
bed:—the application of water or liquid manure, too, 
and the necessity of all after-labour is so considerably 
diminished, that it is worthy the attention of all culti- j 
vators. One consideration with respect to the planting 
of Celery is, that at all times care should be taken not to i 
plant deep, but to keep the seed leaves and collar of the 
plants above the surface of the soil; and to produce fine ; 
Celery it is necessary to make a good preparation with 
regard to soil, manure, and good plants, and never ! 
to allow it to get dry. Continue to prick out young ■ 
plants. 
Routine Work. —Sow late dwarf kinds of Peas on i 
