June 26.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
203 
green stems, about two feet high, clothed with leaves of the 
same colour, and each stem surmounted by an umbel of 
blossom of a yet paler shade of green. 
The sundew ( Drosera anglica) was not very abundant. 
The arrowgrass (Triglochin palustre), I remarked in flower. 
The beautiful, though common Veronica officinalis, formed a 
conspicuous feature on the rocky ground, while Athyrium 
Jilix J'cemina, Aspidium dilatatum, and spinulosa grew on every 
shady bank. It poured a torrent of rain during the greater 
portion of the day, or I might, no doubt, have extended my 
list considerably. W. 
[We shall be glad of a continuance of such notes, and 
quite as obliged by an enumeration of the plants usually 
grown under glass, but which you see in the open air in 
southern Ireland, stating where, and the aspect.—Ed. C. G.] 
SCRAPS FROM MY NOTE-BOOK. 
Alpine Stawberry. — Having raised some seedlings of 
the white one four years ago, they were carefully planted by 
myself the following year, and from that time to this, have 
blossomed and borne fruit plentifully, but not a single 
runner has been forced to any root. I noticed this about 
the middle of the first summer, and looked carefully through 
the whole bed, and have done the same each summer since. 
I knew nothing of the plant before, and no one could tell 
me whether it was a peculiarity belonging to this sort. 
Having, however, lately noticed directions given for the 
runners of this kind to be cut off, the matter was decided. 
The plants have appeared to flourish, and have looked as 
healthy as possible from the first. I am trying to increase 
the size this year by rich cultivation. 
[White Alpine Strawberries produce runners, although 
very scantily and uncertainly. They are best raised from 
seed, and the old bed broken up after bearing two years. A 
bed will continue for many years to sustain itself in plants 
by self-sown seeds and runners, but the crop diminishes 
both in size and quantity. Ed. C. G.~\ 
Cactus. —For the last ten years, we have never allowed 
the soil to get quite dry at any time of the year, and the 
leaves have, in consequence, never shrivelled. The plants 
have grown very fast, and have a very healthy appearance. 
Our greenhouse is, however, a very dry one. Last year, a 
plant of Speciossimus had twenty-nine flowers blowing at 
once, and had from one hundred and twenty to thirty 
upon it in all. I know, perhaps, too little of these plants 
to compare our own with those of others when in flower, 
not having seen many at that time; but in size, I can safely 
say, ours are fully equal to any I have seen. We tried the 
plan, at first, as an experiment. During the growing season, 
we use liquid-manure three times a week, and water thrice 
a day in dry weather. 
Campanula Pyramidalis. —Having removed some rooted 
cuttings of it from the hotbed, a short time after doing so, I 
found a good-sized leaf growing by itself in the bed, with 
six or eight short roots, half-an-inch long, attached to the 
heel, which had been torn off with it. The leaf was planted 
again, but not being able afterwards to attend to it, it 
withered and died. 
Common White Garden Rose. —I have inquired at dif¬ 
ferent times for a pink one like it, but could not hear of 
one. The White Rose grows luxuriantly in our garden, 
but no pink one yet tried has equalled it in size and number 
of flowers. We are too far north for any but very hardy 
sorts. Will some rose-fancier give the name of the pink 
one, if there is one, and I shall feel obliged. 
[If you manured more liberally, and mulched in summer, 
we think the common Provence and Damask Roses would 
equal your wish.— Ed. C. G.] 
Box Edging. —Mr. Beaton has lately mentioned that it may 
be increased by slips, and we have a border now growing 
vigorously that has been planted from slips this spring. It 
was, in part, an experiment, which, contrary to our gar¬ 
dener’s opinion, I felt pretty sure would succeed, from 
having once reared some plants of it from a slip sent by a 
friend as a relict of Abbotsford; though some days before 
being planted, each slip from this small one grew and 
flourished. 
[No one need fear to adopt any practice recommended by 
our departmental writers, for then they only teach and 
advise from experience. Their opinions and their theories, 
like those of other men, may not be infallible; but what they 
teach as facts, need never be suspected.— Ed. C. G .] 
Dahlias. —Has it ever been tried whether slips can be 
kept in a pot of soil through the winter, in the same way as 
slips of Scarlet Geraniums ? Slips of Chrysanthemums 
may be so kept. 
Yellow Rocket. —A short time ago, an inquiry was made 
about this plant, and should the writer not have met with 
one, a slip or two of a plant known by that name here, shall, 
with pleasure, be sent by post, if the editor will take charge 
of it, or give the address. Our plant grows, when well-cul¬ 
tivated, from one-and-a lialf to two feet high, and has one 
large spike of flowers, with smaller ones round it, in the 
way of the White Rocket. We consider it a handsome 
plant, the flowers being bright yellow, and very double. I 
am not botanist enough to describe it scientifically. S. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
Sowing Auriculas (C. E. B. T.). —Seed may be sown now, but this 
sowing will not flower generally till 1853 ; yet sow now by all means, for 
the plants will be much stronger than plants sown even in early spring. 
Carnation Seed [Ibid). —This may be sown now on the same prin¬ 
ciple, that the plants will be stronger than plants from seed in early 
spring the year before. 
Tiieracleum giganteum (Ibid). —The flowering age of this plant is 
two years, but much depends upon the strength of the plant; your’s will, 
we think, flower this year. Water freely, if dry, at all times when 
necessary. We saw a leaf of this lately grown by Messrs. Hardy and 
Son, Maldon, Essex, the total length of which was five feet three inches, 
and the greatest breadth four feet six inches. The thickest part of the 
stalk was eight inches in circumference. 
Grafted Epiphyllums (F. W. T.). —These do not require any 
different treatment to those on their own roots. You should set your 
E. Russellianum out of doors now, in an open situation fully exposed to 
the sun all day. Water when very dry, and bring the plant into a green¬ 
house , placing it near the glass, as soon as there is the least fear of frost. 
This exposure will ensure it to flower, because it ripens the shoots. 
Take it in certainly by the middle of September. Keep it dry through 
winter, and commence watering about the middle of March, but not 
abundantly, or the roots will not be benefited, but injured by excessive 
watering. Keep it rather cool in the spring till the flowers appear, and 
when a little advanced, increase the heat 10° by day. Gesnera Z ebrina is 
a stove plant; 70° of heat is proper for it. The old bulbs do not die 
annually. 
Roses in Pots (A Subscriber from the beginning). —Place your 
greenhouse roses out of doors at once, top dress them with some loam 
and rotten dung, prune them back to the lowest eye on the new wood, 
water freely after they begin to grow again, and you will have roses 
through the autumn months. 
Geranium Grafting (Ibid). —It is not too late to graft geraniums. 
The best method is what is called side-grafting; that is, cut a deep 
notch out of one side of the branch, then make a corresponding cut on • 
the scion, fit them together and tie with wet bass mat. They will soon 
take and begin to grow afresh. Keep them in a shady place until that 
takes place. 
R ise Cuttings (Jane). —From your account your cuttings are doing 
well; and instead of hurrying, you had better give them and yourself a 
little patience. Do not be disappointed if many should fail. If a goodly 
number succeed, that ought to satisfy a first attempt, and be a good 
reward for the trouble involved. The reason why your cuttings seem to 
stand still is, that the organisable material has chiefly been spent, and 
more must be assimilated before much fresh progress can be made up¬ 
wards or downwards. Continue giving air at night, and shading from 
bright Sunshine during hot days, and patience will be rewarded. Let 
your anxiety for having the cuttings grow quickly get the better of this 
advice, and we would not like to give you much for the batch. Y'ou 
complain that we do not give the after treatment in many of our papers, 
and that, therefore, when you get a certain length you are left in the dark, 
and apt to ask, “ What next?” The oftener you ask, if with such good 
reasons, the better; but the fault cannot always be attended to. The 
stern editor might not mind how long a letter he had from a lady ; but he 
would be very apt to cry, “ Hold! enough,” when any contributors ex¬ 
ceeded their allotted space. The ‘‘good management” necessary to 
make cuttings of roses flowering plants the same season, is just similar to 
what is given to other plants that are to be rattled on. As soon as struck, 
the cuttings should be potted or transplanted, and have all the means 
for encouraging the growing principle, that has lately been referred to in 
these pages. By such process, with gradual exposure to more light and 
air, you would bring about the fructifying process, and, therefore, you 
would have flowers in the end of summer and autumn from those which 
naturally produced blooms at that period. Many will show flower early ; 
but these had better be removed, to encourage the growth of the plant ; 
as, independently of the weakening influence, a large flower upon such a 
lilliputian thing from the cutting-pot, is like fixing the head of Goliah on 
the shoulders of a Tom Thumb. 
Cutting-down leaves of Hyacinths (Ibid). —Doctors will ever dis- j 
agree. Use your own common sense, and fearlessly cut the seemingly ; 
inextricable knot of the authorities you cite. As a general rule, no bulb 
is mature, or has received its full quantity of stored-up organisable ma- , 
terial, so long as the leaves remain green. Some florists, however, imagine j 
that colour is rendered purer when the bulbs are taken up just before 
