j August 14.] 
| the window, or balcony, this is a good time for propa- j 
I gating China’s, Bourbons, Noisettes, and the most of the ■ 
| Perpetuals, as well as the hybrids between them, with 
j cuttings of good firm shoots. If it is desirable to make 
; the most of scarce kinds by this means of propagation, 
i the best mode is to place the cuttings round the sides of 
i pots filled with light sandy soil, and then place them in 
j a shady cold pit for six weeks, when, to accelerate the 
j rooting and growing process, the pots may be transferred 
! and lodged in a frame, or pit, containing a sweet, mild 
i bottom heat. When fairly rooted, they may be trans¬ 
ferred to an open sheltered border, or potted, and kept 
close until fresh growth has commenced; or they may 
be kept in the cutting pots all the winter, if there is some 
nourishing matter in the pots, beneath light sandy soil 
on the surface. In either case, under good treatment, 
thev will become useful plants the following season. 
II. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC STOVE PLANTS. 
Dipteracanthus spectabilis (Showy D.). —A new 
plant lately introduced from the Continent, and said to 
be a native of South America. The plant is half-shrubby, 
flowering when about a foot high; the flowers are two 
inches across, and are of a pleasing blue colour, arid 
very beautiful. They are produced in succession, and 
continue to appear for several weeks, rendering it a 
pleasing addition to our stove plants. We can confi¬ 
dently recommend it to our readers as being worthy 
of cultivation. 3s. Gd for small plants, and 5s. for 
blooming. 
Propagation. By cuttings. —The best are the young 
shoots, taken off with two or three joints; cut off the 
bottom leaves close to the stem without injuring the 
bark, put them in 5-inch pots in a compost of light 
loam, peat, and sand, with lialf-an-inch of silver sand at 
the top; place them round the edge of the pot, keeping 
the leaves inwards in the way we have often described; 
set them under a hand-glass either upon a heated sur¬ 
face of sand, or coal-ashes, or plunge them in a bark-bed, 
covering the cuttings with a bell-glass which just fits 
the pot inside without touching the leaves of the cut¬ 
tings ; give them a due share of water without saturating 
them; wipe the bell-glass now and then, and shade 
from hot sunshine. With this care and daily attention 
they will root in a month or six weeks, and should then 
be potted off into small pots, and placed again under a 
hand-glass in the propagating-house till fresh roots and 
growth take place; then remove them to a more airy 
situation. Even when so voung, attention must be 
given to form the future nice, bushy plants, by nipping 
or cutting off the uppermost bud or shoot; and as soon 
as the side-buds begin to break, give them a larger pot. 
If the business has been well performed this (the pot¬ 
ting) will be necessary about the middle of May, and 
then commences the 
General Management. —The plants being fairly esta¬ 
blished, give them water in moderate quantities when¬ 
ever they require it. Perhaps in all the operations of 
plant-culture there are none so important or so little 
attended to or understood, as watering properly. The 
best rule we can lay down is never to water a plant 
before it needs it, and especially delicate-rooted plants, 
like the one we are writing about. Too much water is 
equally as injurious as too little, the happy medium is 
the point to be constantly aimed at. When a plant does 
really need water, give it enough to wet the soil in the 
pot thoroughly, and no more, and then let the plant feed 
upon the matter this water dissolves, and give no more 
till the soil becomes partially dry again. This abstemi¬ 
ousness will be quite as beneficial to plants as to 
307 
animals, and will keep them also in robust health. 
When the pots have become filled moderately with roots, 
give a third repotting, stopping the shoots again, and 
tying them out so as to allow fresh central shoots to 
spring up, which must again be stopped and tied out 
when they have made sufficient growth. When the 
plants have reached a foot in height you may expect 
flowers to appear. They must then be removed into a 
cooler house, or cooler part of the stove, to prolong the 
season of bloom. This blooming season happens in 
July, and then the greenhouse will be the proper place 
for them. Here, with increased air and light, the flowers 
will be of a heightened colour, and the plants will grow 
more robust and healthy. In this house they may 
remain till the bloom is over. Then cut them in pretty 
freely; give no water, or only as much as will keep the 
root-action going on, fresh shoots will soon appear, and 
the plants will be stout and healthy to carry them 
through the winter in the stove. In March give them 
a shift into larger pots, and they will, or should be, then 
a foot across and a foot-and-a-half high, and the follow¬ 
ing season will be truly ornamental. 
Soil .—We have now a plant of Bipteracanthus in fine 
bloom, growing in a compost of fibrous, fresh loam, 
sandy peat, and leaf-mould, with a small addition of 
silver sand. It stands in a house in which Camellias 
are grown, which, during their growth, is kept rather 
warmer than a common greenhouse. In this soil and 
situation it has bloomed well, and grown satisfactorily. 
Insects .—The leaves of this plant are thin and deli¬ 
cate, circumstances that render them liable to the attacks 
of the red spider. The best remedy and most destruc¬ 
tive agent is perfect cleanliness. We find nothing so 
effectual as frequent washing with the sponge and tepid 
water. This should be used even before the insects 
appear; for the old proverb holds good in this case 
as well as in the higher application in morals, that 
“ prevention is better than cure.” If a plant, liable to 
the attacks of insects, is kept clean and healthy, it 
is not so liable to their attacks, or, at least, it is more 
able to resist them, and, by a constant application of 
the right means, the insects may be more effectually 
destroyed. __ T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 
MR. GLENNY ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Geranium (IF. IF.).—It is not new in colour, and is 
inferior to many we have. Fancy Geraniums are good 
for nothing, unless the colour is striking. Dull, heavy 
colours, with scarcely any white, are useless among the 
number we possess, which are bright and sparkling. 
However dark a variety may be, if there be a good field 
of pure white, the contrast would give a brightness; but 
in the bloom sent, all that can give value to a novelty is 
wanting. We have not mentioned the name for obvious 
reasons. 
Pansies (TF B., Morpeth). — No. 1 is paler in the 
yellow of the side petals than that of the lower one, and 
the indentation in the lower one is fatal. It appears, 
too, so alike and so conspicuous in all three blooms, 
that we fear it is permanent. It should be borne in 
mind by raisers of seedlings, that thickness of petal is a 
quality without which no new flower can be tolerated, 
unless for some extraordinary feature. Now the two 
light seedlings, Nos. 2 and 3, are too flimsy for anything, 
even if they were any novelty. 
Fuchsia (J. T .).—The bloom too much withered to 
show how much it reflexes, but from the remains we 
augur favourably ; the contrast between the sepals and 
corolla is good, and this is a great point in a Fuchsia. 
We should like to see another bloom or two by and by. 
Pansey, throe blooms, flowers too far gone, but promis¬ 
ing. Let us suggest that Pansey blooms come best 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
