THU COTTAGE GARDENER. 
20 
you must commeuce with a nice healthy one-year-ohl 
plant now. If you resolve to commence from the begin¬ 
ning with a cutting now, you must he satisfied if you 
obtain such plants in the spring of 1852. 
Propagation. —This is generally effected by cuttings 
which are taken off when the plants have done flowering, 
or the older plants are cut into pieces for that purpose. 
In making the cuttings it is advisable to strip off several 
of the lower leaves close to the stem, as if you leave any 
part of the petiole of the leaf it is apt to rot, and thus 
mould and destroy the cutting. In selecting cuttings 
from old plants, reject the hard bare part next the roots, 
and cut straight through nearer the leaves and top of 
the cutting, where the wood is softer and fresher, though 
ripe, and not spongy. The next thing to be done is to 
dry the base of the cuttings, and yet keep the top ami 
leaves of the cutting green .and flourishing. How do 
this? Nothing is more easy. Expose the ends of the 
cuttings for several hours to sun and air, but shade the 
tops, and give them a dash from the syringe. Those who 
j dry the bottoms of other cuttings, such as geraniums, 
i will find this worth noting. 'The longer that leaves can 
be kept green, the sooner will the cutting protrude 
: roots. 
In preparing pots for cuttings, means (such as those 
1 previously referred to) must be adopted for keeping out 
worms, as their entrance, by whatever means, is next to 
j fatal to success. After securing the hole in the bottom, 
the inverting a small pot inside of a larger one answers 
well, as thus a hollow cylinder is formed through which 
the heat will have free access to the base of the cuttings. 
The bottom of the inverted pot should be on a level 
with the rim of the larger one, and the hole should be 
stopped with a potsherd or cork, so as to be removed 
at pleasure. The space between the two pots should be 
filled half-way to the top with drainage ; above this the 
soil should be placed, consisting of equal portions of 
fresh loam, peat and sand, with a covering of silver sand 
j on the surface, from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch 
in thickness. Leaf mould, if it constitutes a part of such 
soil for propagating, should previously be dried and 
heated, to free it from insects. The cuttings being in¬ 
serted as close as possible to the inverted pot, and well 
watered, arc, when the foliage is dry, to be plunged in 
a nice sweet bottom-lieat, such as will be found in the 
1 front of a cucumber or melon bed; and each pot covered 
with a bell-glass, or several of them covered with the top 
of a hand-light. In either case it will be advisable to 
tilt the one side of the glass at night, and replace it firm 
in the morning, which will prevent all danger from 
(lamping, and will also expedite the rooting process. 
Shading and watering must be given when necessary. 
When struck, shift separately into small pots, and give 
them a little bottom-heat again. As the summer pro¬ 
ceeds, they will require a rather shady place; and would 
be better, if all the time they were kept under glass with 
plenty of air. If it is desirable to make a large plant 
from a cutting the first year, it woidd be advisable in re¬ 
shifting it to keep it in a rather warm close atmosphere 
until September, when it should gradually be exposed to 
more air, and a lower temperature, in order to harden its 
wood, and set its flower-buds before winter. By giving 
a cutting, therefore, the treatment generally given to stove- 
plants, we have had fine plants the first winter. After 
being struck, aud after the first shifting, the common 
routine of the greenhouse, or cold frame, will answer for 
them ; but they will not grow so fast as when more heat 
is given them. In fact, with the exception of the time 
when they are in bloom, when they will stand beautifully 
for months in a cottage window, and when they are 
resting after flowering, they never seem to find fault with 
a liighisli temperature, provided they have fresh air, and 
during summer are not exposed to the mid-day sun. 
"W ith respect to those year-old plants that are to be 
[APHIL li. 
kept until another season, after being cleaned of all their 
flower-stems, &c., they arc generally set in a shady place 
under glass, until May, or June. They are then shifted 
into larger pots, and kept rather close, and somewhat 
shaded until autumn, when, as in the case of their rival 
youngsters, they must be fully exposed to the sun, and 
more liberally supplied with air. If, after shifting such 
plants, an opportunity is afforded of giving them a geufle 
bottom-heat, whilst the tops are kept rather cool, the 
plants will increase rapidly in size and luxuriance. 
When I used to give them this bottom-heat, the plants 
were finer than 1 have had them since ; but more care 
was necessary to get tlie wood thoroughly ripened in the 
autumn. During the winter months when in flower, 
and when resting for a time after flowering, any tem¬ 
perature below 50°, and not below 40°, will do. When 
growing they will enjoy what ranges from 55° to 75°. 
The soil to flower them in may consist of equal parts 
of turfy loam, peat, and leaf mould, and half as much as 
of either of these of sand, charcoal, and dried lumps ol 
cow dung, using it rough in proportion to the size of the 
plants and pots. During winter, pounded charcoal may 
be placed round the stems, to prevent them damping. 
When growing, water should be given freely ; but during 
winter it will be wanted comparatively seldom. Weak 
manure-water will be of service during the growing 
season. Thus treated, they may be made to ornament 
the greenhouse and window from November to May. 
>Sowing .—Now is a good time to sow the single varieties 
for blooming in winter and spring. R. Eisn. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
STOVE PLANTS. 
Gardenias. —Though not so rich in colour as some ol 
the Ixoras which we selected for first consideration, these 
are almost as beautiful, the pure white of their blossoms, 
garnished with their bright, glossy, handsome, green 
leaves, rendering them very attractive ; and, in addition 
to their beauty, several species have a most agreeable 
fragrance, so much so as to have caused them to receive 
the popular name of the Cape Jasmine; a very erro¬ 
neous title, for the sweet-scented species are natives of 
China. The two species cultivated in some nurseries 
round London and other large towns for the sake ot 
their flowers, which are in great request for bouquets, 
are the Gardenia Jiorida plena and Gardenia nulicans. 
In those nurseries we have alluded to, these two 
species are grown by hundreds to the greatest perfec¬ 
tion. As they are so very beautiful and fragrant, we 
consider that no stove ought to be without them. Their 
culture is not so well understood as it ought to be, espe¬ 
cially in the country ; and as this treatment is different 
in some respects from that the rest of the family require, 
we shall describe it first, commencing with 
The 1 Vinter 'Treatment. —Towards the end of summer 
all the Gardenia plants of the two last mentioned species 
are put into a cold pit; here they receive only just water 
enough to prevent them from flagging; air is given 
every fine day, and the pit is securely covered up with 
mats and short litter every night through the winter; 
this throws them into a state of Test. They are quite 
hardy enough to bear such a temperature. A week or 
two before it is intended to put a portion of them into 
heat they are taken out of the pit, and every stem and 
leaf carefully washed with a sponge; this removes their 
grand enemy, the red spider, besides cleaning the leaves 
from dirt and dust. They arc then potted in sandy 
peat four parts, and one part decayed leaves, commonly 
called leaf-mould ; then they are put into a pit heated 
with spent tanner’s bark, and lined with stable litter, the 
wall of the pit beiug pigeon-holed to let in the heat of 
