110 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[Mat 23. 
bushy flowering plants the first summer; but if large 
fine plants are wanted, growth rather than bloom must 
be encouraged, by stopping and keeping the plants rather 
shaded, pinching back the tops, or cutting them down; 
removing the most of the soil, or only a portion, and 
repotting in July and August, just as the varieties are 
slow growing or the reverse, and early fine blooming 
plants will be obtained for spring and summer. 
As we have said, however, we prefer spring-struck 
cuttings, as there is comparatively little danger of them 
getting into a stunted habit, and scarcely a cutting will 
fail of being made into a plant, while time will be saved. 
Cuttings may then be obtained from thinnings of the 
young shoots on established plants; or, better still, an 
old plant stopped in the autumn, should be left on pur¬ 
pose. It will stand comparatively hard treatment during 
the winter, but iu February or March it should be put 
gradually into a moist atmosphere, and a temperature 
of from 45° to 55°, or a few degrees more. As soon as 
the young shoots are from one and a half to three inches 
in length they should be taken oil' close to the stem and 
properly treated; the strongest woidd bloom in the open 
air in summer if desirable; if potted, stopped, and re¬ 
potted in August, they would make nice little flowering 
plants during the winter, if a temperature not less than 
45° is then given them, with fresh air. Similar plants— 
having their flower-buds removed, the points of the 
shoots pinched out, the shoots themselves trained into 
the desired shape, and repotted in September—will make 
nice flowering plants iu spring and summer. For the 
end of summer and autumn others should be repotted 
in March and April. 
Soil, and a few matters essential to success in propagating. 
—The soil should be light and sandy, free from worms 
and insects; one part peat, one part leaf-mould, one half 
part loam, one part pure sand, will answer admirably, 
with just an additional dusting of silver sand upon the 
surface; such a compost will neither be too close nor 
too open. If mere soil, &c., were present, the air would 
obtain too free an access to the base of the cutting 
when the compost became dry, and then the opposite 
evil would ensue from the moisture remaining too long 
around the cutting after watering, causing it to mould 
and decay r . A similar effect would be produced by in¬ 
serting cuttings, as some do, wholly in sand; enough of 
air then would not be admitted, and thus a shanking-off 
would be liable to ensue, for the circumstances that 
would ensure the safety of a liard-wooded cutting would 
ruin a soft-wooded geranium. Then, if the cuttings are 
inserted into pots, these pots should be half filled with 
drainage, and the remaining portion with different layers 
of the prepared compost, reserving the finest for the 
surface. Defore inserting the cuttings the pots should 
have been previously well watered, and the moisture 
allowed to drain away, as most of the waterings after¬ 
wards had better consist of sprinklings from the syringe. 
In early autumn, when the weather is still warm, and 
the sun’s rays powerful, little or nothing in the shape 
of bottom-heat will be required; but the cuttings should 
be placed at such a distance from the glass that they 
may enjoy the direct, though diffused, rays of light; this 
| will prevent the necessity of shading much to prevent 
| flagging. The more direct though somewhat diffused 
I light they will stand, the sooner will roots be pro¬ 
truded, and the more sturdy and healthy will the plants 
! become. Of course they would require to be placed 
nearer the glass as the power of the sun declines. Every 
hours’ shading, however necessary it be at times, is just 
so far encouraging the mere expansion upwards of what 
is contained in the cutting, without doing much for 
encouraging the protrusion of roots. In sunny weather 
they will require to be kept close, and receive frequent 
sprinklings from the syringe, to lessen their powers of 
evaporating their juices, but at night and morning air | 
may be given, and the sashes at times wholly removed. 
When propagating iu spring the same course may be 
adopted, with one or two exceptions. First, as the 
presence of sun at that period is not so much to be 
depended on as in the autumn, the cuttings should be 
placed pretty near the glass, and shading in bright 
weather resorted to when necessary, as otherwise, in long 
continued dull weather, the cuttings would become weak 
and spindled. And, secondly, as the cuttings had been 
slightly forced before their removal from their mother 
plant, a little mild bottom-lieat, of from 00° to 80°, would 
be of great service to them, giving them a top tempera¬ 
ture of from 50° to 60°. These, as we have already 
hinted, are the circumstances under which the finest 
plants are most easily produced. R. Fish. 
(To be continued.) 
HOTHOUSE DEPABTMENT. 
STOVE PLANTS. 
JEschynanthus. —In the whole range of the floral 
kingdom, there are no plants cultivated for elegance and 
beauty that are more striking in appearance than the 
species that constitute the genus iEschy nan thus. The 
most of them possess at least two of the grand pro¬ 
perties that all plants worth cultivating ought to have; 
our readers, no doubt, will remember them—handsome 
flowers, fine foliage, and an agreeable fragrance. Two 
of these the iEscliynanthi possess in an eminent degree, 
namely, beautiful flowers, and handsome deep green 
foliage. Besides, this genus possesses another property 
to recommend it to the favourable notice of cultivators: 
a considerable number of the species will grow in 
baskets, or tied by the roots in a ball of moss, or even 
fastened to a block of wood covered with moss. In the 
nursery at Pine-apple Place, there is now a plant of 
JEschynanthus ramosissimus, or parasiticus, fastened to a 
block of wood, two feet long, covered with moss. The 
plant completely hides the block, and lias on it more 
than 100 heads of its fine, scarlet, and dark anthered 
blossoms. Again, TEschynantlius zebrinus has its leaves 
beautifully barred with crimson, while 2E. discolor has 
the under side of its leaves coloured with the richest 
crimson-purple. When hung up either iu a basket, or on 
a log, the leaves show off to great advantage. Another 
property these charming plants possess is, that on 
account of their trailing flexible branches, they answer 
extremely well to train round a balloon-shaped trellis. 
Cultivated in this style, we have seen specimens three 
feet high, and two feet through, covered with fine foliage, 
and in due season completely covered also with their 
beautiful tube-shaped scarlet and crimson flowers. All 
these charming and useful properties are sufficient to 
recommend this genus to the notice of every one pos¬ 
sessing even the smallest stove. 
Propagation. —These plants may be propagated both 
by seeds and cuttings. Seedlings, however, do not come 
into flower so soon as cuttings, and as seeds are not cer¬ 
tain to be produced, we shall first describe the method of 
increasing by cuttings. Fill a pot, or pots, of a size to lit 
the cutting bell-glasses, with proper drainage, light com¬ 
post, and an inch of pure white sand at the top; give 
this a gentle watering to make it firm; then take cut¬ 
tings of half-ripened wood, cut them into two or three- 
inch lengths, trim off the lower leaves, leaving a leaf, 
or, at the most, two leaves at the top ; then insert them 
with a small stick into the sand, placing the leaves in¬ 
wards, so as not to touch the glass. Then place the 
cutting pots either under hand-glasses upon a heated 
surface, or, what is better, plunge them in a bark-bed. 
They will soon put forth roots, and should then be potted 
off into small pots; put under hand-glasses till they are 
established, when they may be gradually liardened-off, 
