September 8. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 443 
formation of roots; while the best of it for cottage 
gardeners is, that such well-ripened pieces of florists’ 
Pelargoniums require no more trouble in the months of 
July, August, and the first part of September, than a 
leafless gooseberry or currant cutting inserted in the 
open ground in spring. So far as I have noted, such 
plants are generally more robust and hardy through 
life than their more soft, luxuriant brethren. First 
appearances, therefore, however pleasing they may be, 
are no sure test, either of economy or future superiority. 
Here, however, as well as in many other matters, the 
middle path is the most advisable. The point of a 
well-ripened shoot has, as we have seen, its buds yet to 
iorrn ; the base of the shoot may be as indurated as a 
piece of oak, its buds will come, but you must give 
them and the rooting process time. Shoots, or parts 
moderately indurated, will yield most advantages, with 
fewest drawbacks. 
Ripening Shoots before Pruning. —The reason will 
now be obvious why we recommend hardening Gera¬ 
niums in the sun before pruning them. Independently 
of the cuttings, the young shoots on the old plant are 
much more robust than when they break from softer 
wood. A lady, fond of flowers, held up her hands, the 
other day, as she looked on the bare-boned skeletons of 
what had been large Pelargoniums, and yet a good 
grower would have seen nothing particular about them. 
Another window gardener cannot think for a moment 
of subjecting a favourite Fuchsia plant to the rough 
hardening process alluded to the other week, while it 
continues to yield a single flower. Need there be any 
wonder, that part of the shoots of such a plant should 
die in winter, or when pruned, either in winter or 
spring, that the buds will break so irregularly, that you 
know not how you can bring it into shape in any other 
way than allowing it to dangle as carelessly as the 
Clematis on the way-side hedge? It has been so 
arranged in the affairs of this world, that striking 
results should generally be the consequence of thought, 
looking after, and self-sacrifice, even though the casual 
observer may fail to note it. The sacrificing of the pre¬ 
sent appearance of the pot-plants, so as to ensure their 
ripening and hardening, is often the foundation of all 
future excellence. Thus, in the case of the Fuchsia 
referred to the other week. When the plant is to be cut 
down to the ground, it is of less moment, as the buds 
then are likely to be matured. Thus, again, in the case 
of the Scarlet Geranium, now so luxuriant in beds and 
baskets. Who would not wish to save a number of 
them over the winter for future display? Well, the 
ease with which this may be done, and their future 
early and full blooming next year, depend greatly on 
removing many of the larger leaves, so that a bright 
autumn sun, and a free current of air, may play upon 
and harden and consolidate the stems. Two other 
familiar cases strike me at this moment, and to which I 
will allude, as furnishing an answer to 
Some comflaints of want of Success. —The Clero- 
dendrons have previously been recommended for green¬ 
house display in summer, wherever there is the 
opportunity of giving a higher temperature when 
growing. They are always interesting when grown as 
large plants, as seen at the great exhibitions; or merely 
with a single head of bloom, in a small pot, from very 
small cuttings of the spring of the same summer. But 
fine flowers, and great success in either case, depend on 
the hardening and ripening of the wood before storing 
the plants for the winter; and then they will bear 
an amount of cold that would kill them outright when 
j more spongy and soft. Then, again, who has not 
i admired the beautiful Aphelandra cristata, and its rela- 
: tives, which, some friends say, they cannot get to 
! bloom, even though, according to the hints they have 
I received, they have placed the plant full in the light, and 
even stinted the plant of water, but not a flower would 
come; while tiny plants, in their neighbour’s garden, 
from cuttings of the same season, have each its head of 
bloom. The secret is to be found in the unripeness of 
the wood, in the one case; and the ripeness in the 
other, before pruning, making cuttings, and starting 
into growth, In the case of the plant that will not 
flower, let it have plenty of heat, light, and air, now, 
with a gradual lessening of water, and kept cool in 
winter; and then, when pruned back, I should expect 
each shoot to be loaded with its head of bloom next 
season. 
Potting Hair-rooted Plants. —“Neighbour A. grows 
Heaths, Epacris, Azaleas, &c., very well; but I observe 
that, in almost every case, he keeps the centre of the 
ball, where the collar of the plant is, as high as the rim 
of the pot; and, in many instances, where the plants 
are large, an inch or two above it. Neighbour B. grows 
his plants equally well, and yet his balls of roots are all 
beneath the rim of the pot; in fact, in this respect, he 
pots a Heath just as he would a Cineraria or a Gera¬ 
nium. Now, both give me their reasons, and both 
seem conclusive enough; but they leave me in a perfect 
quandary what mode to adopt as the best, and as en¬ 
tailing least care and labour." This is just another 
example of what a great poet said about governments— 
“ That which is best administered is best.” There may 
be many roads to the same town, and different travellers 
may have their taste respecting them, and, provided each 
keeps to his favourite road, they may reach the market¬ 
place at no great distance of time from each other. 
We see this verified every day in gardening. Appa¬ 
rently opposite systems are crowned with equal success; 
but, in such cases, that success depends upon minutiae 
too apt to be overlooked, though, without these minutiae, 
each might try the scheme of the other, only to be dis¬ 
satisfied with the result, and revert again to his more 
accustomed practice. Now, at the risk, in these days 
of extremes, of being called “ a canny moderate,” I 
would here again, for all such plants of any size, advo¬ 
cate a middle course, neither lifting the ball above, or 
equal to the rim of the pot, nor potting it as deep as I 
would a common Geranium. The elevating the ball of 
the plant was a good enough idea, when, from using 
fine-sifted soil, and insufficient drainage, there was little 
security against the reckless wielder of the watering-pot. 
But then, it must have been apparent that the only mois¬ 
ture obtained by the elevated roots must have got there 
by some process of capillary attraction; while, in every 
case of fresh potting, the fresh soil would either be 
saturated, or the water passing there too freely would 
leave the centre of the ball much too dry. Now, the 
practisers of this mode had their own minutiae. Such 
as dipping, &c., now and then, for avoiding all these 
results; but want of attention to these minuti® woidd 
be ruinous to a beginner. Then, on the other hand, by 
potting the surface of your ball level, at a certain dis¬ 
tance beneath the rim of the pot, you would, in the 
case of a specimen you intended to be getting larger j 
and better every year, detract from its dignity, inas- j 
much, as if left to itself it would be most likely to form | 
a little elevated mound where the collar of the plant is 
situated, and which can never be much buried in plants 
of this nature with impunity. But this is not all. By 
using, now and then, surface-dressings, it is probable 
that the centre of the ball, instead of being the highest, 
would be likely to become the lowest, and unless the 
watering was done very carefully indeed, it would be 
difficult to avoid having the collar of the plant either 
constantly wet, or exposed to sudden extremes of wet¬ 
ness and dryness; and the changes of temperature, 
produced in this manner at the collar of the plant, not 
only by using water of different temperatures, but by 
the cold produced by the evaporation of moisture, 
