THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
305 
August 14.] 
side of it, with one-year-old plants, and only ten to 
twelve inches high, and in something near to these pro¬ 
portions the two sorts will grow, or will he made to do 
so, for the whole season. Salmon being the highest, 
looks south, and Punch being too low to look over the 
shoulders of the other, turns his back completely to the 
Salmon, and looks as I have said. Now, this can very 
easily be managed by one kind only, if that is preferred. 
Suppose a window-box is to be planted next April with, 
say—Tom Thumb or Judy;—put in the outside row of 
stout old plants, and the front row, or that next the glass, 
with young plants struck six weeks previously, and if the 
box holds three rows, let the middle one be of medium- 
sized plants. At the first planting, the leaves all slope 
in towards the glass, but as soon as the flowers come, 
the tallest or farthest from the glass will point outwards, 
and put the front ones so much in the shade, that as 
many of them will point to the window, as will offer to 
turn the other way. Now, if a box holds only two rows, 
and that is quite enough for any window-sill, let the out¬ 
side row be of Tom Thumb, which makes long footstalks 
to the trusses, and is thus enabled to hold out its flowers 
far from the leaves; then Judy, for the side next the 
glass, her habit of flowering being the very reverse of 
that of Tom—short arms and flowers lying almost on 
the leaves; Judy will produce fine trusses for every one 
Tom shows, but one truss by Tom contains as many 
flowers as five trusses of Judy ; the shade of Judy is the 
first remove from the scarlets. This is the best arrange¬ 
ment that can be made at present, but I know of a better 
by and by. It is not quite true, however, that Judy is 
the first shade out of the scarlets, for Compactum is in 
reality of that shade, but Compactum is of a different 
breed of scarlets, and will not associate in its way of 
growth and flowering, in such small numbers with the 
breed of Tom Thumb and Judy, which are true descend¬ 
ants of the royal blood of the Frogmores. 
We have often had inquiries about such and such 
ways for reducing this tendency of too many leaves, and 
a scarcity of flowers in the autumn, and among the rest, 
that of planting out geraniums with their pots. At first, 
and, indeed, for some time, the writers in The Cottage 
Gardener took it for granted that they were addressing 
only a class of new amateur readers, and for such they 
well knew the danger of advising them to plant their 
beds with plants in pots, and the system was rather dis¬ 
couraged than not, at least, that is the part I acted ; but 
now that Mr. Paxton and Mr. Fleming, with their 
efforts, and such men as the Messrs. Macintosh, of 
Dalkeith and Drumlaurick, and others like them, 
at the very head of horticulture, not only read The 
Cottage Gardener, but quote it from memory, our 
task of writing is not half so difficult as we at first 
found it, because now, although some of our readers 
might not comprehend our instructions, or follow 
them out to the letter, we are confident that the 
great bulk of them do so, and not only that, but by 
their kindness in recommending The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener in their different localities, they feel themselves, 
as it were, bound to assist us by explaining more fully 
the substance of our advice, and thus a sound practical 
knowledge in our line is being silently and steadily in¬ 
fused among the great bulk of our fellow-countrymen. 
This is but one view of the subject, which an old friend 
of mine and J discussed the other night. Mr. James 
Macintosh, brother to the great author of that name, 
who is at the head of the first flower-garden in Scotland, 
(Drumlaurick, one of the scats of the Duke of Buccleugh), 
or in England cither, paid me a visit the other day, and 
it would mellow the heart of a florist to hear how we 
' discussed the merits of shades and colours. By the by, 
is it not singular that one never meets with a lady 
florist ? All the ladies are on the same side as the 
flower-gardeners, and all of us put colour as the prime or 
first requisite in a flower, which is the last consideration 
in a florists’ flower. That, however, is not the question; 
but how are we to get most flowers in the autumn ? And 
here I must eat my own words, for I find, from Mr. 
Macintosh, and I have his great authority for saying so, 
that planting out whole beds of Geraniums in their pots 
is a most capital plan, which answers perfectly. He 
has planted thousands of them that way, but how he 
does, and all about them, must stand over to another 
week. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
A Chapter on Generalities. —Fine sunshiny wea¬ 
ther seems now setting in to replace the dull, wet, and 
foggy; cheering the heart of the husbandman, as he 
looks at his waving corn ; and rejoicing the spirit of the 
gardener, as be looks upon the present, and contemplates 
the future. A busy season is now before him, for it 
includes, besides the usual cares, propagating for ano¬ 
ther year, and hardening oft' his plants for winter and 
spring-blooming. A few of these I will just cursorily 
advert to, as a sequel to the chapter in the end of June. 
Cacti. —These were lately alluded to. The great 
thing now to be attended to is to give them every ray of 
sun-light they can by possibility obtain, and by the 
middle of the month refrain from giving them water, 
at least, all the strong-growing succulent kinds. After a 
very hot day it will be better to squirt the stems, instead 
of watering at the roots. By the middle or end of the 
month, the front of a south wall, with a coping to keep 
oft' the showers, and turning the plant every day or so, 
would just be the place for them, until the beginning ol 
October. 
Daphne. —Who does not like the scent of Indica, 
odora, odara rubra, and others? Whether for the inside 
of windows, the parlour, or the conservatory, these are 
universal favourites. Where there are a number of 
young ladies, fortunate is the gardener who has such a 
quantity of large plants, that, like the purveyor for the 
kitchen among his Brussels sprouts and borecoles, he 
may “ cut and come again.” Supposing that these have 
a shady place in the greenhouse, or in a vinery, or in 
any place where a little extra heat can be given for 
obtaining fresh growth, the plants will now require to 
be set out of doors, first in a place a little shaded, and 
afterwards full in the sun, giving rather less water as 
the autumn approaches, and getting them under shelter 
by the beginning of October, not that they would be 
likely to suffer from cold at tliat early period, but because 
the heavy occasional rains are apt to sodden the soil in 
the pots so much, as to alter its hygrometric properties, 
and neutralize the finest system of drainage. Where 
examining the roots was not attended to in the early 
part of the season, it may still be done with propriety, 
but any shifting should be on a small scale; I mean, that 
the fresh p>ot should not be greatly larger in size, the 
operation being chiefly confined to fresh drainage, the 
getting rid of a portion of the old soil, and substituting i 
new. No large shifts for winter and spring-flowenng | 
things should be given now, unless in the case of soft- , 
wooded, quick growing plants. Those shifted at this 
season must have a different treatment from those not j 
interfered with at the roots; instead of placing them in 
the sun, they should be kept close for a week, then : 
placed in a rather shaded place, and in another fort- j 
night gradually exposed to full sunshine. The best 
compost is sandy fibry peat, and fibry loam, two parts of ; 
the former to one of the latter. 
Dianthus. —The early struck plants of Pinks and 
Carnations should now, without delay, be transferred to 
the pots in which they arc to be forced in winter. Rich, 
light, fibry loam suits them well. 
