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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 30, 1858. 
small as yoiirs. For such, we should dispense with all such 
paraphernalia of triple cords, weights, &c. Suppose we covered 
the house with two blinds, twelve feet in width each, and as 
long as the width of the house, then we should fasten one end of 
the blind to the ridge board; and place the other end on a 
roller two inches in diameter, and thirteen feet long. This 
would give one foot more than the requisite lengths at each 
end. On this part, we should wind a rope, longer than the 
length of the sloping roof, and then, as we pulled the rope to 
us, the rollers w'ould revolve, and mount the roof. A stout 
nail, or peg in the wall, to fasten the rope to, would keep 
the roller steady in any position in moderate w T eatlier. A 
stxing fastened at the Other end would keep it more secure. 
For such a small house, what would you say to several pieces 
of bleached calico, pulled up by rings inside, or at once fastened 
By loops and hooks to the wall plate, and the ridge board, and 
all inside the house. For a mere greenhouse, such a neat 
shade might remain the most of the summer, and the light, if 
the calico was thin, would not be injuriously reduced. 
Your idea of the shelf for Strawberries is good as respects 
neatness, and, no doubt, answers well; but we should prefer, 
instead of your method of cutting, and lathing, to bevel the 
board slightly to the centre, and run a grove along its centre, 
the slightest inclination in the brackets being sufficient to 
bring the drip to the end desired. Mr. Fraser, at Luton Hoo, 
by covering his shelves with zinc, and giving them sides, can 
not only let oif such water, but keep as much as he wants of 
it; and nourishing soil besides, at the bottom of the pots. Mr. 
Duncan, of Basing Park, also, makes a sort of trough of his 
shelves for a similar purpose, and has a means of letting off 
extra moisture, wdien too abundant. 
All things considered, there is no better plunging medium 
than tan, when it can be got, though we have not handled it 
for years; coal-ashes, sand, &c., are very good, and so, no doubt, 
would be the cocoa-nut refuse, spoken of by Mr. Beaton, if 
not too valuable for such a purpose. We chiefly use half 
decayed leaves, because we can manage to get them the easiest.] 
TREE CARNATION CULTURE. 
In answer to our Correspondent “ Leicester,” I beg leave 
to reply that Tree Carnations may be grown to almost any 
size. The best I ever saw w r ere in the conservatory belonging 
to the Earl of Wilton, at Heaton Park, near Manchester. 
Mr. Shuter, the gardener there, paid great attention to their 
culture, and the consequence w r as, immense bushes two feet 
and a half through, and from three to four feet high, each 
plant producing scores of blossoms in succession, three- 
fourths of the year. The way this was accomplished was, by 
frequent repottings in turfy loam, enriched with well de¬ 
composed dung. When the final shifting took place, they 
were in pots ten inches in diameter To make them yield 
many shoots, so as to fill such large pots, they were, from the 
very first, well stopped, and the shoots were tied out nearly 
horizontally. Central shoots soon sprang up, and then each 
shoot had a tall slender rod given to it, and as they grew up, 
they were tied loosely to it. When they had grown a foot 
high they were stopped again, by nipping out each centre, and 
so on, till they had attained the desired height. No blooms 
were allowed to open till they became large plants. The bloom 
i then was truly fine, such as would have graced any exhibition 
in the kingdom. 
Propagation. ■ — “ Leicester” asks the treatment from 
seed. I am bound to tell him, that to raise Tree Carnations 
from seed, for an amateur , is a hopeless task. In the first 
place, I do not know where he could obtain the seed; it is 
not in any seedsman’s catalogue that I have met with, and if 
he should save seed himself, very likely nine-tenths of the 
seedlings would come single, and even those that came double 
might not have the Tree character. It follows, then, that his 
best plan is to purchase established varieties that are double, 
and have that peculiar property of branching, which is the 
characteristic of being Tree or Perpetual Carnations. As 
they grow up tall, they are not so easy to propagate by layers, 
but that difficulty may be got over by keeping a plant of each 
variety close to the soil, using your old plants for that purpose. 
The best plan, however, is to propagate by pipings. Take 
■ these off'about June, choosing such as arc rather weak, with 
the bottom of each piping pretty firm ; trim off the lowest 
leaves, and with a sharp knife divide the bottom joint exactly i 
in the centre. The roots will push from each division more j 
readily than if the piping were put in entirei I have rooted 
pipings in two ways successfully. One was in five-inch pots, 
filled to within an inch of the top with the ordinary compost, 
and the other inch with pure white sand. The sand had a 
gentle watering given it, to make it firm, and as soon as tlid j 
water had sank through it, the pipings were planted with a 
small stick, pressing the sand firm to each. Then a second j 
gentle watering was given, and as soon as the leaves were dry, j 
the pots were placed in a frame, on a gentle hotbed, amongst 
other cuttings, shaded from hot sunshine, and watered when 
necessary. One fact I ascertained, that pipings of this variety 
of Carnation strike root more freely than the florists’ varieties. 
The other plan is to plant the piping in sand undor a hand¬ 
glass, on a border facing the east. If a layer of fresh dung, 
a foot thick, is put under the soil and sand in such a border, 
the gentle heat given out hereby materially helps the rooting 
of such pipings under the handglass; but that heat renders 
some care necessary, in giving air, and drying off* the moisture 
that will rise and adhere to the glass. 
As soon as the layers or pipings are rooted, they should 
have plenty of air, and less shade, and should then be taken 
up carefully, and transplanted into a prepared rich'bed, in an 
open part of the garden. They wall form much stronger and 
more stocky plants in such a situation, than if put into pots 
at first. Towards the end of October they ought to be lifted 
with balls, and put singly into five-inch pots, in the compost 
above described. Should any of them have only one shoot, 
let the centre be carefully nipped out, to cause side shoots to 
break out early, and close to the soil. Place the plants under 
a cold frame, and protect from severe frost, and heavy showers 
of rain and snow, but on all fine days give abundance of air. 
Then, in the spring, give a good shift, and continue on till the 
plants are of a good size, before you allow a single bloom to 
open. By this treatment, the following spring they will 
bloom finely, and give the cultivator great satisfaction. 
The following selected varieties are well known, and worthy 
of culture:— 
Admiration , dark plum ; large and fine. 
Attila , clear white ground, striped with bright scarlet. 
Beauty , bright rosy pink ; very distinct and beautiful. 
Belle Zara , bright purplish crimson, edged with white. 
Boule de Niegel, pure white. 
Cerise Perpetual , bright rose; large and fine. 
Coquette , white, edged with pink like a Picotee. 
Forge de Vulcan , brilliant scarlet; large and beautiful. 
Grenadier , dark buff; distinct and fine. 
Grand St. Bruno, dark purple; large, double, and distinct. 
La California , pale yellow, striped with carmine. 
Madonna , blush, striped and spotted with crimson. 
Marquis de Belboeuf, vermilion scarlet; very fine. 
Meteor , beautiful dark crimson; large and good; highly 
fragrant. 
Mount d? Or, purplish rose, veined and margined with white. 
Phoebus, creamy yellow, shading off to light crimson. 
Proserpine , dark crimson; large, very double, and fragrant. 
Virginius, bright carmine, striped and spotted with white ; 
good.—T. Appleby. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Ranunculuses turning Yellow'—Climbers for House Front [V. 
M .).—The “roots” of the Ranunculuses were not sufficiently ripened 
the previous season, and the heat of the early part of last summer 
overtook them too soon. You will have a better chance with them 
this season, and we would recommend you not to disturb them now. 
Climbers for the front of a house depend on the part of the country' 
where the house is situated ; and, as we do not know where your house 
is, we can only guess for you. The white and yellow Banksian Roses 
would do, and several of the Tea-scented Roses might be worked on 
them; against a south wall the new yellow Tea Rose, called Isabella 
Grey, would do well on its own roots, as it is a strong grower; and 
Mr. Low, jun. tells us that he saw it to perfection in the hot dry air of 
South Carolina. Fellcnberg is a free blooming, deep red Noisette Rose, 
for a house front; Cloth of Gold is a shy bloomer in many places, and 
requires a south wall; but Jaune Despres seldom fails, and covers very 
fast, and blooms most profusely; also Lamarquc. But to recommend 
climbers for a house, which may be in Devonshire or Ross-shire, would 
be of no use. 
Aster Culture (A Lady ).—The treatment of China and German 
Asters for exhibition is very similar to that for late Celery, only not to 
be planted in trenches. In the first place, do not mess with them in hot- 
