U2 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 
will do extremely well, and such alone will trouble 
themselves with my remarks. Always choose young 
shoots for cuttings; for old shoots at the end of the 
summer will be hollow, and not likely to throw out 
roots. The ends of shoots, about two inches long, 
are proper for cuttings, and should be cut through 
just under a joint. Pitt them in fine sandy soil, 
shade them for a few days, and water them freely. 
If cuttings are required late in the season, they must 
be struck in pots, and placed in a warm window to 
assist them in rooting. 
Heartsease will sometimes be difficult to increase 
by cuttings; they may then be layered in fine soil, 
covering the wounded part with some that is nicely 
sifted. These plants will often have shoots that 
strike root themselves; these may be taken oft' at any 
time, by cutting oft' the offsets with a portion of root 
to each. Always have your pruning knife sharp and 
clean; a blunt or notched edge will lacerate the tender 
plant, and nearly pull it out of the ground by the force 
required to separate the shoot or branch. Always 
close your knife, or put it in its case, when done 
with; and do not let it lie open on the damp grass, or 
dig up weeds with it, as I have often done. Have 
a small pointed trowel always in your apron pocket, 
that you may not hastily employ your pruning knife 
to indulge your indolence. Another way of increasing 
heartsease is by throwing a double handful of finely 
sifted soil into the centre of a plant when it begins 
to spread, by this means inducing the plant to throw 
out roots near the surface. This must be done in 
June; and then, early in September, take up the 
plant, wash away the soil from its roots, and divide 
it into as many plants as it will admit of. To ensure 
the finest bloom, plants should be raised every year, 
and they should not be allowed to smother each 
other’s stems, as they will do, because they grow so 
rapidly, and their luxuriance soon impoverishes the 
soil, which makes the flowers small; therefore, renew 
them often. They are easily managed, and as they 
bloom during nine months of the year, (those raised 
early in the year blooming from April to July, and 
so on,) they are useful as w T ell as beautiful. 
The Saxifrage is a rich and handsome flower, and 
the leaves are ornamental too. It enlivens the spring 
garden, and possesses so many varieties, that it is 
well worth cultivating. It is a native of high and 
snowy lands, both in Norway and Siberia, as also in 
Italy and Switzerland. It glows on the confines of 
perpetual snow, which cherishes its roots, and pro¬ 
tects it through the intensity of those terrible winters, 
and our frosty seasons will often injure it, without its 
accustomed mantle. The London Pride, one of my 
favourites, is a member of this family, though little 
resembling them either in leaf or flower. The Saxi¬ 
frage will bloom in valleys as well as on ice-bound 
mountains, and will even adapt itself to London air 
and smoke; thus bringing the dreary solitudes and 
unbroken silence of its native lands into striking 
contrast with the restless movement and unceasing 
din of our vast metropolis. What a range of thought 
may a “Prison plant” awaken! In telling its his¬ 
tory, what new, and grand, and beautiful, and fearful 
things it speaks of! What heighths and depths, 
what frozen desolations, dwell among “ the everlasting 
hills! ” and what snowy plains and soft rich vallies 
lie around them! “Mercy” rejoicing “ against judg¬ 
ment.” Surely everything that God has made echoes 
the song of Moses—“Who is like unto the Lord 
among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holi¬ 
ness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” 
PRIZE PLANTS. 
Ltsts of plants which took either first or second 
prizes at the May shows of the Horticultural and 
Royal Botanic Societies. (Continued from p. 109 ) 
AZALEA JNDICA. 
Azalea indica Rawsonii, B. 1 . 3 feet 
lateritia, B. 1, II. 1 & 2 
Laurenceana, B. 1, H. 2. 
exquisita, B. 1 . 
prsestantissima, B. 1 Sc 2 
sinensis, B. 1 & 2, H. 2 
magniflora, B. 1 
variegata, B. 1, H. 1 & 2 
coronata, B. 1, H. 2 
macrantha purpurea, B. 1 
triumphans, B. 2 
rubra pleno, B. 2 
alba superba, B. 2 
rosea punctata, B. 2, H. 1 
optima, B. 2, H. I 
Gledstanesii, B. 2, H. 1 & 2 
pvniiisita. H. 1 & 2 . 
high by 3 feet diameter 
H by 3 
4 
4 
H 
4 
3 
4 
4 
2 
4 
5 
4 
4 
4 
8 * 
3 
3 
3 
2 
4 
3 
3 
3 
>4 
3 
3 
3 
HEATHS. 
Erica propendens, B. 1 and 2 . 4 
,, vasaeflora, B. 1 & 2 . « 
,, mirabilis, B. 1 & 2 
,, depressa, B. 1 & 2 . . 
,, metulaeflora, B. 1 
,, perspicua nana, B. 1 X- 2, H. 1 2 
,, mutabilis, B. 1 & 2, H. 1 
,, intermedia, B. 1 
,, denticulata moschata, B. 1 
,, Humeana, B. 1 
,, ventricosa coccinea minor, B. 1 . 
,, tortulaeflora, B. 1 
,, Cavendishiana, B. 1 & 2 . 
,, elegans stricta, B. 1 
,, ventricosa alba, B. 1 
,, nitida, B. 2, H. 1 . . . 
,, elegans, B. 2, H. 1 & 2 . 
,, delecta, B. 2 
,, fastigiata lutescens, B. 2, H. 1 . 
,, Westphalingia hyd., B. 2 . 
,, vestita var. alba, B. 2. H. 1 
,, Beaumontiana, B. 2, H. 1 
,, ventricosa superba, B. 1 
,, ,, coccinea, B. 1, H. 2 . 
,, ,, minor, B. 1 & 2 
,, suaveolens, B. 1 . 
,, primuloides, B. 2 . 
,, Hartnelli, H. 1 & 2 . . 
,, propendens, H. 1 & 2 . . 
,, vassseflora, H. 2 . 
,, trossula alba, H. 1 
feet high by .3.]. feet diameter 
3 by 2J 
24 
2 
24 
2 
2 
14 
44 
4 
24 
2 
34 
24 
24 
24 
34 
34 
24 
2i 
14 
14 
34 
34 
3 
24 
3 
3 
4 
44 
3 
3 
24 
24 
24 
24 
44 
34 
34 
3 
4 
3 
24 
14 
24 
24 
24 
24 
3 
3 
24 
H 
34 
24 
44 
4 
3 
24 
3 l 
O-i- 
PjJ 
EXTRACTS EROM CORRESPONDENCE. 
Digging Implement. —A clergyman, writing to us 
from the neighbourhood of Faversham, Kent, says:— 
“They have hereabouts a very 
useful and economical garden 
tool, which I have never seen 
elsewhere. It is called, very ap¬ 
propriately, a “mule,” for it is a 
cross between the spade and the 
fork. Take an old worn out 
fork, or, as they here call it, a 
“ sprong-spade,” and get the vil¬ 
lage blacksmith to unite the tips 
by welding to them a strap of 
steel about lb inch wide. Then 
you have a strong light spade, fit 
to dig any soil that is not very 
crumbly, as represented in this 
sketch. There is, or was, a 
spade much used in Cheshire. 
It was made of one piece, in¬ 
stead of having a hollow for the 
insertion of the handle, as with 
us; consequently it would wear 
down to a very stump, and be 
sharp to the last. Can you tell 
me if any such are to be procured 
