196 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 29, 1857. 
and half from the other, by means of a wheel and racket, 
i The trees are planted inside, and on both sides ; and are 
j trained on a trellis about a foot from the glass. The ap- 
: pearance of the trees said, that as yet they had met with 
' nothing to disagree with them. There was some fine 
fruit, and there seemed to have been great plenty. The 
trees were chiefly Peaches and Nectarines ; a I ig tree, 
something in the way of the brown Turkey, had fruit 
as large as a fair-sized Beurre Bose Pear. In a few 
years the trellis will be entirely covered; and an ar¬ 
bour-arcade form thus be given to the walk beneath. 
The whole appearance is very compact and neat 
like everything else about the place. I think it right 
to mention such examples out of the common routine ; 
though, as yet, were the same amount of. glass given 
to me to make the most of, I should be inclined to sink 
the elegant, and cover a larger space of ground. There 
can be no question, however, that for many places, such 
houses would be more in character than any combina¬ 
tion of the lean-to or the span-roof. The house is not 
heated. Its future will be eagerly watched by many. 
I found gardeners, house servants, and stable men, 
along with the young gentlemen, eagerly engaged at 
cricket, preparatory to a great match, in which they 
were to be engaged the following day. All appearances 
seemed to testify, that nothing was lost by such free 
intercourse, change and relaxation; and that, instead 
of fostering anything like carelessness, they acted as 
promoters of renewed exertions and increased industry. 
R. Fish. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
THE PHLOX. 
(Continued from p. 161.) 
Propagation : by Cuttings. —This mode of increase 
I need only be resorted to, when any kinds are new or 
! scarce in the collection. Scarcely any plant increases 
so easily by cuttings as this. I remember when Ini- 
bricata first came out, Messrs. Henderson, of Pine 
Apple Place, had only three or four plants in 48-pots ; 
yet their propagator increased the stock that season 
before planting-out time, to as many hundreds ; and, 
had they been required, could readily have doubled 
the number. The amateur, however, will not require 
such a large quantity ; but he must follow the same 
method in order to increase his stock. 
That method consists in preparing the plants for 
propagation. They should be placed in gentle heat, 
about the middle of February. The shoots will 
quickly spring up ; and as soon as they are an inch 
and a half high, then get ready the propagating-pots. 
Choose them quite clean, four inches diameter, and 
drain them well; that is, lay first a large piece of broken 
pot over the hole, upon that place four or five rather 
smaller pieces, and upon them lay an inch or so of 
pieces the size of peas ; cover them with a thin layer of 
moss or rough siftings, and then fill the pot to within 
an inch of the rim with a compost of turfy loam, decayed 
! leaves, and heath mould, in equal parts, well mixed 
together. Fill up the remaining inch with pure white 
silver sand ; give it a gentle watering to make the sand 
firm, then collect the cuttings. Take them off with a 
very sharp knife, and trim off the lower leaves. Finish 
one kind first, and plant the cuttings in the sand with 
a small stick : a pen-holder with a tapering end makes 
a very good one. Press the sand firmly to the bottom 
of oach cutting, placing them neatly in rows across the 
pot; then number or name the variety ; and so proceed 
till all the sorts ready for propagation are finished. 
When that is done, give another good watering, and 
allow the cuttings to stand on the bench out of the 
sun till the leaves are all dry. Then place them in a 
gentle hotbed, or in a propagating house, taking great 
care to shade them from the sun. If the sand become 
dry, give a gentle watering from a very fine-rosed pot; 
but this should be done early in the morning, in order 
that the wet may dry up quickly. In this tender state, 
too much damp will soon cause them all to decay. 
Slugs are very fond of the young leaves in this state, 
and will be sure to find them out, unless they are 
closely looked after. As soon as growth is evidently 
taking place, then a little air and less shade should be 
given; and as soon as roots are evolved, pot them off 
directly, nipping off their tops at the same time. Use 
very small pots, and replace them in the frame, shelter¬ 
ing from sun and frost. As the season advances, 
harden them gradually; and then, if space can be 
spared, give them a second shift. They will then be 
strong plants fit for planting out in May. 
By Division .—In places where there are already 
many plants of Phloxes, this method of increase is the 
best, because each division will send up several stems, 
and thus make a good display next season. I would 
here warn the amateur against procrastination. The 
season for this operation is too often put off till spring ; 
but the right season is as soon as the stems are cut 
down in autumn. Let any one try the experiment : 
he will find the autumn-divided plants spring up with 
double the strength, and produce many more flowers, 
and finer heads too, than the spring divisions. Another 
point to guard against, also, is not to make the divi¬ 
sions too small. Unless the plants were very large, 
I never divided them into more than four quarters. 
The inner roots must, of necessity, be cut through; 
but the outer roots may be kept entire. The beds for 
them should be dug deep ; and the soil made light, rich, 
and sandy. This work should be done as early as 
possible, in order that the soil should settle down into 
its place before the plants are divided. Then, having 
arranged the mode of growing them, whether in beds 
all of one kind, or in the mixed style, or in belts, pro¬ 
ceed at once now, and plant them; allowing the crowns 
to be about half an inch deeper than they were before. 
The Grouping .—This should, of course, be studied 
well before the replanting. Every gardener, who has 
his wits about him, and has an observing eye, will the 
year previous have noted the heights, and colours, 
and habits of his Phloxes, as well as any other species 
of out-door plants—will have this knowledge handy, 
either in his brain, or in his garden-book. The next 
thought will be, How am I to manage my Phloxes P 
The space that can be devoted to them will partly 
determine this. In a large place, it would be easy 
enough to have a separate piece laid out purposely 
for them: in my opinion they are well worthy of this 
distinction. Then the colours may be arranged so as 
to blend harmoniously quite as well as verbenas, 
Geraniums, Calceolarias, and others. The tall growers— 
by which term, by-the-by, I do not mean to include 
such as grow three to five feet high; these giants I would 
confine to the shrubbery borders. Hut in my choice 
nook, I would grow none more than two feet, and they 
should be in the centre of a large bed. Hy the descrip¬ 
tive list which I intend to give, any amateur may 
select as many varieties as would give him a good mass 
of each of various colours. We are not all agreed yet 
as to the arrangement of colours ; but we do all agree, 
that violent contrasts should be avoided. Now, sup- 
Xiosing we have a stock of a two-feet high Phlox of a 
pleasing rose colour ; that variety should be planted in 
the centre of a bed, and edged round with a delicate 
blush, finished off to the extreme edge with a pure 
very dwarf white : but if there be a cluster, or a row of 
small beds, then each bed should be of one variety ; 
commencing, say with white, then blush, then pink, 
then rose, and lastly, purple; gradually descending in 
