THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 12, 1858.’ 
assumption as to the temperature required for the pro¬ 
duction of wax and the development of brood. 
I must apologise for the length to which this communi¬ 
cation has run, but to have rested under the imputation of 
having disparaged Mr. Golding would have destroyed for 
ever my own reputation as a bee master.—W. B. Teget- 
meier, Tottenham. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE BLOOMING—THE 
SCOTCH THISTLE. 
“ As ‘ W.,’ of Penzance, in No. 479, expresses a wish to he 
informed whether any of your readers have noticed, this year, 
the unusual circumstance of the abundant flowering of the 
Jerusalem Artichoke, I beg to inform him that I noticed 
several of these plants in flower this year in a garden in 
this place. You justly remark, that the flowering of the 
Jerusalem Artichoke is not a very uncommon event: I, there¬ 
fore, should not have sent you this notice, had I not thought 
it may be interesting to ‘ W.,’ who observed the plant in 
flower in the neighbourhood of Land’s End, the most western 
point of England, that it has also flowered in this village, 
which is, I think, distant about forty miles, in a direct line, 
from Lowestoffe Point, the most eastern point of England; 
and, indeed, of the island. The dilference, however, of the 
climates of Cornwall, especially the western part of that 
county, and that of Norfolk, is, I conceive, much greater 
than that which is due merely to latitude. It is rather 
extraordinary if a plant, which has flowered in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Penzance, and also in this neighbourhood, has 
not flowered at some intermediate places. 
“ Mr. Beaton has let me off more easily than I thought he 
would have done, I do not consider myself as being severely 
reprimanded for having spoken disrespectfully of the bedding 
system; but only as being admonished to be more cautious 
for the future. I have, however, I hope, in some measure, 
propitiated him, as I have paid him black-mail in the shape 
of some roots of Anemone ranunculoides , which he mentions 
in The Cottage Gardener as one of his desiderata. 
“ I do not think that Carduus nutans , w hich is, I suppose, 
the true Scotch Thistle, might he used with fine effect as a 
bedding plant. If your opinion upon this subject coincide 
with mine, you will, perhaps, try to persuade Mr. Beaton to 
make a trial of it.”— E. Simson, Walton, Norfolk. 
[We understand part of the contribution of Anemone 
ranunculoides is under experiment for blooming early in the 
spring: but what is the Scotch Thistle after all ? This is 
the first time we have heard of Carduus nutans being raised 
to that dignity. Professor Wilson, alias Christopher North, 
and most of our English editors and writers on Scottish tales 
and scenery, have mentioned Onopordum acanthium as the 
•only true Seotch Thistle. But the story of the origin of the 
motto, Nemo me impune lacesset , would need a Thistle not 
more than two or three inches high.] 
PROPAGATING VERBENAS IN POTS. 
“ On the 5th of October, I put some cuttings of Verbena 
in a large cutting-pan, and covered with a bellglass, which 
exactly fitted. Soil, cuttings, and all, were just made accord¬ 
ing to the directions often given in The Cottage Gardener. 
Soil, chiefly fine leaf mould and sand ; cuttings, from one to 
two inches, sometimes young side-shoots slipped off. I took 
the utmost care of them; keeping the soil moist, but not 
wet; placing them hi a large any hall-window, but not ex¬ 
posed to draughts or sun ; after the first few days, lifting a 
little of the glass, &c. All looked green and well for some 
weeks, and even grew a little; but, one after another, they 
drooped dow T n as if the stem were too weak or broken. If I 
attempted to give them more air, they but drooped the more; 
they did not look draw r n up, or too damp. At the end of 
seven or eight weeks, I had pulled each up as it withered; 
and of the twenty to thirty I had put down, not one had 
begun to strike root; though some lasted for five and six 
weeks, looking healthy and well. Can you account for this ? 
235 i 
or tell me where the error lay ? I know they were rather 
late; but cannot think, while looking so well, and even grow- 
ing, why they should not strike root. Some plants, grown 
in beds, were hooked down only a few days sooner, and struck 
good roots.”— Alice. 
[Many years ago, we failed in propagating, much in the 
same way as you seem to have done; and many a thought it 
cost us, in trying to find out the reasons of want of success. I 
We may not be able to clear up the matter as much as you ' 
would wish, or so as to please ourselves : but your lucid state¬ 
ment of a disappointment, deserves all the explanation that ' 
can be given to it; and, more especially, as the propagating 
season will soon be here again ; and, also, because to our own 
knowledge, you are not the only person that has suffered 
Rom a similar failure this season. 
You acted wisely in accordance with the old proverb, 
“ better late than never: ” but your case is just one of 
thousands, in which the “ late ” and the “ never ” are just 
synonymous, so far as results are concerned ; pointing us to 
another axiom, that “ what is worth doing at all, is worth 
doing well,” and doing at the right time, and in the right 
way. Eor reasons lately given, the propriety of striking 
Verbenas somewhat early, would be apparent. Where that 
matter was overlooked, and no greater conveniences exist 
than you seem to possess, then it was recommended to take 
pots filled with suitable soil, to the beds, and lay young shoots 
over the pots ; fastening them in the soil with hooks, or 
placing a pebble over each, to keep part of the stem under 
the soil. When roots were running freely hi the soil, cut the 
stem behind half through; and in a week or fortnight more, * 
cut through altogether; and you would thus have a pot of full- 
rooted plants. The conclusion of your letter proves the pro¬ 
priety of this course. The reason why such shoots rooted so 
freely, is obvious enough. The shoots were exposed to the 
action of the weather; the laid part had every encourage¬ 
ment to root, as well as to elongate; and, no check was given 
to its receiving due nourishment from the parent roots, as 
long as such was needed. In all such circumstances, and | 
when late enough for cuttings, this is the best mode to adopt. 
Lateness, then, may be considered one cause of failure; but in 
such an autumn, not the main or chief cause why such well- 
selected cuttings, and that kept alive so long, did not strike. 
We are the more inclined to allude to some of these now , as 
they will apply alike to early and to late propagation. 
Soil. —This, very likely, was all right: but, for late and early 
propagating, no leaf mould should be used that is rough 
enough to produce anything like fermentation, unless it be 
placed at the very bottom of the pan or pot, and not much 
even there. What is used for the compost must be very 
rotten indeed, and thoroughly sweet, from being well aired. 
This, with pure loam, and white sand, might constitute the 
half of the compost. Sand and loam should be placed over 
that; and then a sand-surfacing for the cuttings to be firmly 
fixed in ; so that the cutting does not touch the leaf mould 
until its roots get into it. In summer, early autumn, and 
after the end of February, such niceties, with comparatively 
easily-managed things, are not required ; but there can be no 
question, that in early and late propagating, many cuttings 
are damped and rotted by coming too much in contact with 
leaf mould that has not been thoroughly decomposed and 
sweetened. A little pure sweet loam, with plenty of pure j 
sand, mixed with a little heath soil, if come-at-able, is better, J 
and this surfaced with pure sand. This might be an auxiliary ; 
but, as the plants stood so long, we cannot consider it the 
main cause of failure. 
Size of Cutting-pan. —This might have a greater influence, 
and yet not be the chief cause in such a wonderful autumn as 
we have passed through. The size is not stated farther than 1 
a “ large cutting-pan covered with a bellglass exactly fitting j 
it.” Now, supposing that your pan was nine, or twelve inches 
in diameter, it would have been just the thing, if the cuttings 
had been inserted by the end of August, or the beginning of 
September; but it was not so suitable in the first week of i 
October. We should have expected some of the cuttings to 
damp off, however well drained the pan was; and have expected 
the cuttings in the centre to be more injured than those at the 
sides. Other things being equal, cuttings inserted close to the 
side of a pot, are less likely to suffer from damp ; and from 
