422 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 1. 
A six-inch pot will grow a nice bushy plant. Divide 
the old stools of last spring’s plants, or take up the 
strongest suckers and jiot them, and put both in a frame 
or pit, kept rather close for a time, to encourage growth, 
j Seed may also be sown for spring blooming. 
Chrysanthemums. —Where these arc wanted fine they 
should be carefully tied out, and the light and air 
; allowed to play round and upon every leaf. No stopping 
of shoots must now be thought about, as that would just 
j deprive you of the bloom, Rut as the shoots extend, all 
j small offsets appearing in the axils of the leaves of the 
lower parts may be nipped out with the point of a 
knife, and that will throw more strength into the end 
buds, where flowers are to come from. Liquid-manure 
may also be given alternately with clear water, and the 
! pots may be top-dressed with rotten cow-dung. No 
shifting should be given now, unless the plants have 
been growing in the ground, or plunged out in smallish 
pots. Even these should be potted finally before the 
flower-buds show much. Fly and thrip will be deterred 
from feasting on the foliage if they are well syringed 
1 occasionally with weak soot and lime-water, holding a 
small portion of sulphur in solution. The points of 
shoots in the border may yet be layered in small pots, 
for obtaining flowers on dwarf-lilliputian plants. The 
best mode is to have a very narrow sharp-pointed 
knife, to insert that in the middle of the shoot, say six 
or eight inches from its point, draw the knife then 
carefully either upwards or downwards for an inch or 
two, and before withdrawing, place a chip of wood, a 
pebble, or even a piece of earth, in the opening; cover 
this part an inch over with earth as it is placed on the 
surface of the pot; and if likely to be disturbed there, 
hook it down, or place a stone over it. If well watered, 
the pot will soon be filled with roots, when the plant 
may be cut off, and kept slightly shaded for a time. 
Heaths, Epacrises, and liarcl-wooded plants, in 
general, now requiring more pot-room, should have it 
without delay, that the soil may be getting appropriated 
before winter. Those intended to blow early, as Epacris, 
should now receive plenty of light, that the wood may 
be hardened, and the flower-buds set. Heavy drenching 
rains must, in all cases, be avoided, as they either wash 
the virtues out of the soil, or render it soured and caked, 
so that air cannot penetrate. To be secure from worms, 
the best plants should stand on boards, slates, &c., so 
that the wrigglers cannot get at the bottom of the pot. 
It is amazing how very thin a fat fellow can make him¬ 
self when he has a particular object in view. 
Scarlet Geraniums in Pots should be well supplied 
with liquid-manure, or be liberally top-dressed, which 
will give size and number to the flower-trusses. When 
a few flowrets fade in the centre of a truss of bloom, nip 
them out, and the truss may go on for weeks afterwards. 
Those intended for blooming in winter should not now 
be encouraged to flower, but should receive their last 
shifting, and when rooted be kept rather dry. 
Florists’ Pelargoniums lately pruned down, and 
standing out-of-doors, should be turned on their broad- 
I sides, if heavy rains are frequent, or they will not 
break kindly. Tender kinds, and slender growers, as 
many of the Fancies, had better be moved under glass, 
where such a conveniency exists; as, if frequently 
i soaked, when pruned-in, young shoots will come irre¬ 
gularly, and somewhat gouty. Cuttings of all these 
may now be made of the Scarlets and strong-growing 
Pelargoniums, in pots, boxes, or the open border; but 
tbe small Fancies will be the better by the protection 
of glass, whether planted out, or placed round the sides 
of a pot. 
Cactuses, standing in sunny places out-of-doors, will 
soon want protecting from autumn rains. In fact, as 
far as they are concerned, the water-pot may now be 
locked-up until the spring. 
Creepers and Twiners, in the greenhouse, will now, 
and frequently to come, require thinning, to give suffi¬ 
cient light to Fuchsias, Achimenes, Cockscombs, Bal¬ 
sams, Geraniums, Begonias, Thunbergias, Cleroden- 
drons, Lantenas, &c., which will now constitute the 
principal attractions of such places. Few things, at 
this season, look better than nice little Fuchsias from 
cuttings propagated in spring. 
Propagating. — Many comparatively hardy things 
should now be looked after without delay, as, if propa¬ 
gated now in a cold pit or frame, they will require much 
less attention than they will do a month hence, and 
also be much stronger and hardier in consequence. I 
allude to such things as Anagallis, Heliotrope, small 
Lobelias, variegated Alyssum, Petunias, finer kinds of 
Phlox, and a few of the more tender Verbenas, though 
the middle of September will do for most of the latter. 
Of all these, small, stubby pieces should be chosen. 
The choosing the cutting is three parts out of five of 
the success. R. Fish. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
(Continued from page 402.) 
Ciiatsworth. — On leaving the Orchid houses, as 
mentioned in my last, I was ushered into the Pineries, i 
the plants in which I found in great luxuriance, with | 
numbers of fine large fruit. One long pit was filled 
entirely with the Smooth Cayenne, which I was told 
averaged from 4 to 6 lbs. weight each, and had an 
excellent flavour. Probably, at Chatsworth, there is 
the largest stock of this new, line Pine-apple, in Great I 
Britain. 
The mode by which the Pine is cultivated here 
appears to be an improvement upon what is called the 
Hamiltonian system, which, our readers are aware, is 
that of planting them out in the soil of the bed, and 
allowing them to fruit, and the suckers to remain and 
fruit also. At Chatsworth, the plants are grown in pots, 
plunged in bark, in the usual way, until they are nearly 
large enough to fruit. Then they are planted out in a 
heated bed of rich loam, and allowed to fruit, which 
fruit attains, in consequence, a large size. After they 
have fruited, they are taken up, the suckers removed off 
them, and the old plants are thrown away. I believe 
this same method is practised also at Trentbam. To 
me it appears this way of growing the fruit is better 
than when the old plants are allowed to remain, year 
after year, in the old exhausted soil. By thus growing 
the plants in pots, with the requisite number of re- 
pottings, and when large enough, to plant them out in 
a bed of fresh, rich soil, the plants are more certain to 
produce fine, perfect fruit, than by either the old method 
of growing and fruiting them in pots entirely, or by Mr. 
Hamilton’s method. The best qualities or points of 
each method are combined hereby. 
Vineries. —The Grapes at Chatsworth are, as usual, 
of excellent quality, though 1 did observe a few that 
were shanked. Probably this excessively wet season 
has been the cause. In one of the Peach-houses there 
is a very remarkable Peach-tree. Its extreme length is 
seventy-five feet, and its width very nearly twenty feet. 
This immense tree is in perfect health, and when I saw 
it, August 15th, it was lull of the finest fruit I have 
.seen this season. 
One point of culture, at Chatsworth, I consider good, 
and worthy of imitation wherever the space under glass 
will allow it, and that is, in the old Pine Stoves, 
Vineries, and Peach-houses, there are no plants in pots 
of any kind whatever grown. It is true, it is only at 
such large places or gardens, as Chatsworth and Tren- 
tham, that houses are numerous enough to allow such 
a practice to be fully carried out, but I have seen some 
