238 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. [Joly 18. 
veiling spaces as above, lie might certainly root all his 
stock, but they would be so huddled and mixed together 
as would render their management difficult. Strong 
and fast growing sorts would overrun the weaker ones, 
and some would require water much oftener than others, 
but if they are in close contact, how is he to proceed? 
and, moreover, if the propagator should forget to mark 
down in his book the numbers of cuttings he made at 
any one sitting, the whole must be counted over again ; 
all this would look like hap-hazard. 
For those who know very little of these things, I may 
now give the details. The border or open space of 
ground in a sunny aspect we shall suppose is ready, 
and I put most stress on having the place full in the 
sun, because half the world lie under a mistake on this 
head, and suppose that a north aspect is the best, which 
is, indeed, a very wrong notion. Then look over the 
bed or plants from which the cuttings are to be taken, 
and select carefully those shoots near the centre of the 
plant, or where they are most crowded; and in this early 
searching for cuttings you are to study “the look” of 
the plants rather than the number of cuttings, for if we 
“ take the market on the day,” we have plenty ot oppor¬ 
tunities yet for an abundant supply of them. Then, at 
this early period, be content with a few, and that lew, it 
judiciously chosen, will rather improve the look of the 
plants, and enable them the sooner to extend sideways. 
The cuttings of strong growing scarlet geraniums may 
be six or seven inches long, as an average; three of 
their bottom leaves to be cut oil', and the bottom ol tbe 
cutting to be a clean cut just under a joint, or under 
the bottom leaf. Some people say tliat these cuttings 
should lay by a while to dry, so as that the fresh soil 
should not “ damp them off,” but this is hardly neces¬ 
sary ; the soil is dry enough to suck off any moisture 
that may be on the cut part, and a cutting in the open 
ground is not at all so likely to rot as one placed in a 
pot. Mark off the border with a line, or string tied to 
two sticks, or you may leave the line stretched across 
the bed or border, and plant the cuttings by the side of 
it, and then move it on for the next row, and so on. 
The surface of the border ought to be even, and the 
planter should stand or kneel on a piece of board rather 
than disturb tbe bed by his foot. About an inch deep 
will be the right depth to plant the cuttings, but less 
than that will do if the surface of the bed is a little firm. 
When the whole are planted, give them a slight water¬ 
ing to damp the leaves and settle the surface of the soil 
about the cuttings, but by no means give so much water 
as to reach to the bottom of the cuttings so early; 
indeed, we have planted thousand of these cuttings in hot 
weather without giving any water at all. 
D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Double Flowers. —The day is not yet so far distant 
when our scientific botanists were experiencing some¬ 
thing like fever heat, from witnessing the growing par¬ 
tiality for these truly beautiful, though to them hateful, 
monstrosities—a fever only secondary in its evils to 
the nightmare antipathy with which they viewed the 
labours of the hybridising florist, who, in the extreme 
number as well as diversified forms of the varieties he 
introduced, seemed to make havock of nomenclature, 
and ride rough-shod through all their nicely drawn-up 
specific distinctions and definitions. Even they, how¬ 
ever, our learned instructors—for though they were not 
free from prejudices any more than other men, we 
must not forget the debt we owe them—even they can 
now join the florist in expatiating upon, and defining 
the merits of, a beautiful hybrid; and, what is more, 
can mingle with the vulgar throng and behold a peculiar j 
beauty in these double monstrosities, altogether apart 
from the means which such flowers present for building 
up a peculiar phytological theory. 
I confess that in the case of many plants, such for 
instance as the Chinese Hibiscus , the single perfect 
flower is to my eye far more beautiful than the double 
varieties; but beautiful and lovely though many even 
of our common plants be in their single state—such as 
the daisy, when slowly rolling back its pale crimson l 
hood-like covering as the sun’s rays reach it in the 
morning—I conceive that few, with a correct taste for 
the beautiful, would think of contrasting for a moment 
the single and the double in such plants as daisies, 
primroses, violets, ranunculuses, pinks, carnations, roses, 
stocks, wall-flowers, Sweet Williams, rockets, balsams, 
fever-few, catch-fly, &c.; plants which, though generally 
found in their highest perfection in tbe garden of the 
amateur and cottager, will never disgrace the parterre 
of the nobleman. 
Our attention has been directed to this subject by the 
inquiries of a lady correspondent, as to how such 
flowers are at first produced. “ Is it from richness of 
soil, as in the stock? I know that double flowers may 
be perpetuated by impregnation, but want to know how 
to get one double in the first instance.’ Now our diffi¬ 
culty here consists in the fact, that our own mind is not 
quite made up on the subject, though we incline to our 
friend’s supposition, that double flowers are chiefly pro¬ 
duced by cultivation, and, in addition, that they are per¬ 
petuated by the same means; and although aware that 
they may be perpetuated by impregnation, we consider 
that even that holds a rather secondary place to careful 
cultivation. Glancing, however, at one or two fallacies 
may lead the investigations of our friends, who have 
time at their command, into a channel whence more 
consistent and legitimate deductions may proceed. 
That our correspondent is not alone in her opinion, 
that double flowers are perpetuated by cross fecunda¬ 
tion, may be seen in the circumstance of saving a single 
flowering stock for seed that has been surrounded by 
double ones; the practitioners believing that the con¬ 
tiguity of the double flowers will influence tbe single 
ones, and thus so far affect the seeds formed that they 
will produce plants with double flowers. Now, in ex¬ 
amining tbe matter, it will at once be found that the 
double state in flowers is generally produced by the sta¬ 
mens, and the pistils, the male and female organs, and 
also at times what are termed floral leaves, &c., being all 
changed into petals; and the more completely this has 
been done, the more perfect the specimen appears as a 
double flower. Rut the more effectually this was accom¬ 
plished, the more unlikely would such double flowers be 
to exercise any influence whatever upon the properties 
of the seed produced from single flowers in their 
vicinity. If these double flowers contained any per¬ 
fect stamens, the fertilising pollen ol these stamens 
might be transferred to the summit of the pistil ol the 
single flowers, and thus the properties of the double 
flowers might be imparted to tbe seeds so fecundated. 
Thus, in saving seed from semi-double flowers, or even 
from flowers containing a greater number of petals than 
usual, there is a greater probability of obtaining double 
flowers in future than from plants with perfectly single 
flowers, as a predisposing cause in the first case has 
already been in action. Whether this double flowering 
condition be the result of disease or merely of a full 
plethoric habit, superinduced by high cultivation, is a 
question that will not at all affect the above proposition 
But, if no such influence in the shape of male organs 
existed in the double flowers, then their neighbourhood 
to the single ones could exercise no power whatever 
upon the qualities of the seed that would naturally 
