THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION.— October28,1856. 07 
SOWING SEEDS OF CAMASSIA ESCULENTA AND 
BRAYOA GEMINIFLORA. 
“ The suggestion made in one of your numbers as to pro¬ 
pagating the Linum grandiflorum rubnmi by cuttings has 
been tried with success by the writer. Much thanks for the 
hint given. 
“ In a past number one of your correspondents spoke of 
sowing seeds of Camassia esculeiita. The writer having 
failed, would be glad to know what is the best season 
of the year for sowing these seeds, and also those of Bravoa 
geminijlora, and whether there is any other besides the 
above-named species of Bravoa?—A Kentish Subscriber.” 
[The seeds of Camassia esculeiita should be treated in all 
respects as those of the gigantic Lily of India were in the 
Clapton Nursery, as described by Mr. Beaton the other day ; 
that is to say, the seeds of this Camassia, like the seeds of 
all other hardy and half-hardy Lily worts, should be sown at 
the end of September, and be kept as cool as is natural to 
the bulbs. The Quamash root of the North American 
Indians—our Camassia —is deeply buried under the snow 
all the winter, therefore is in a warmer place than a cold 
pit in England; but a cold pit is best for a seed-pot, and 
after that the seedlings to be treated in all respects like 
seedling border Tulips. The seeds of Bravoa geminijlora 
require exactly the same treatment as the last; but the 
seedlings must be treated afterwards like common lxias, for 
the little bulbs are of that hardiness. There are no more 
•Bravoas that we know of; but on the Continent they often 
say Cmtocapnia for Bravoa, but the latter is the correct name. 
Are you aware that it is not a very showy plant, only good 
on a mixed border of botanicals out in front of a green¬ 
house or low wall, and to be well protected in winter ? It 
agrees with the border treatment of lxias, and comes into 
flower in June and July after the lxias are over.] 
PROPAGATING GERANIUMS BY THEIR LEAVES. 
“ I have been unusually interested in the very curious 
article by Mr. Beaton, on ‘ Propagating Geraniums by 
Leaves, Flower-stalks, and Cuttings,’ in the number for Sep¬ 
tember, page 390, of The Cottage Gardener. It is now, 
probably, too late in the year for any one not having a hot- 
water propagating-pit to try the experiment; but, with a 
view to the future, I would beg a little explanation of one 
portion, which is not quite so clear as could be wished. 
Mr. Beaton says, ‘ Every single le.af upon a Tom Thumb may 
be turned into a bedding-plant; but you must take the bud 
along with it, and preserve the blade of the leaf.’ Now, 
where is this bud to be found upon the leaf? I can only 
imagine it to be at the end of the leaf-stalk next to the stem, 
and that the leaf-stalk, with its bud, is to be inserted in a 
cutting-pot. Am I correct in this ? 
“ Again, he says, ‘A Geranium leaf will root just as well 
without a bud as with one.’ Does this mean that the leaf¬ 
stalk, without a bud, is to be inserted in the cutting-pot, or 
is the base of the leaf, without the stalk, to be inserted ? I 
infer the former to be the case from the subsequent remark, 
‘ The roots from these leaves come direct from the base or 
bottom of the leafstalk.’ Perhaps you will say I have solved 
rny own inquiry; but, in a matter so very curious and so 
novel, I w'ould gladly see my way quite clearly, and there¬ 
fore I ask for distinct information. 
“As I read the matter I would, in trying the experiment, 
take a leaf with its leafstalk, either with a bud cut from the 
stem, or without such bud, always preserving and inserting 
the leaf-stalk. The remainder of the paper is worth its 
weight in gold.— Verax." 
[One universal law of the Vegetable Kingdom is, that 
every leaf which lias netted veins lias a bud at the bottom 
of the leaf-stalk, or very near it: some groups have the bud a 
little in advance of the stalk, and some have the buds out of 
sight. The Geranium tribe is one of this sort; you cannot 
see the buds till they are nearly ready for leafing. All the 
rest of the explanations asked for are answered by “Verax ” 
himself, who comprehends the whole subject most perfectly.] 
IN WHAT CLASS SHOULD GARDEN LABOURERS 
EXHIBIT ? 
“In what class should a man of the following description 
compete at an Horticultural Exhibition ? As a cottager, or 
not? He is a common labourer in a gentleman’s garden, 
where there are many young gardeners kept; consequently, 
has nothing but just the roughest of the work to do.—D. 
Walters.” 
[We have repeatedly answered that all labourers in 
gardens must exhibit in the class for “ Gentlemen’s 
Gardeners,” and not in the class for “ Cottagers.” It is 
quite true that such garden labourers are not gentlemen’s 
gardeners, according to the correct definition of a gentle¬ 
man’s gardener ; but they have more opportunities to learn 
gardening, and to obtain seeds and plants, than have 
artisans and farm labourers,for whom the “Cottagers’class” 
is intended. To avoid all such doubts, there should 
be a separate class for “ Under-gardeners and Garden 
Labourers.”] 
DODECATHEON MEDIA SEEDLINGS. 
“ I was not so fortunate until this spring as to obtain seeds 
of this to vegetate, and was much pleased when the little 
seedlings made their appearance; but, to my great mortifica¬ 
tion, though I did everything that the most careful could 
think needful, I could not, after so long a time as three 
months, get them to produce any leaves beyond the two 
seed-leaves, and, after struggling so long, oft' they went. 
Can your intelligent departmental writers throw any light 
on this failure ?— Florist.” 
[Those leaves were all their first year’s growth, even if 
they were in their native woods. Had you preserved their 
little roots they would make a stronger growth next spring, 
and so on till they were of a size to bloom. The gigantic 
Lily of India made no more growth this first season from 
seeds at Clapton.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Asparagus and Sea-kale Plants, &c. ( Senex). —Do not cut 
down the stems of the Asparagus until quite dead ; then cover the plants 
with some rich manure; water them with liquid-manure and salt next 
spring and summer, and plant them into beds, to remain, in the March 
following. Your proposed treatment of the Sea-kale is right. Your 
Drumhead Cabbage was sown, perhaps, a little too late in the spring, or 
was a bad sort, or the soil w as too light and poor. There are contrivances 
to prevent the drip in glazed houses, but the moisture in the air within 
them will condense on the glass during cold nights. 
Vines in Engine-house (A Subscriber ).—You can grow Grapes in 
it if there is sufficient light, but to secure this the whole roof nearly 
ought to be glazed. The same requirement of light applies to flowering- 
plants. 
Melon Pit (A. B.). —We know of no “ District Act ” requiring you 
to give notice of its erection to the District Surveyor. Is there a local 
Act, and, if so, what are its words ? Why do you not ask the Surveyor 
himself ? 
Cucumber-house ( A Gardener).— Did you merely place the soil on 
the platform, without shelves or sides, to make a box of it? In that case 
very likely the soil got too dry in the middle. Did you fix sides to the 
platform, and have no drainage ? then, in that case, there might be 
stagnant moisture. In either case, though the foliage might not suffer 
much, the fruit would be apt to do sn. We should also like nine inches 
to a foot deep of soil, even if the width were less. In such a place we 
have had plenty ot fruit from pots a foot wide from March, and would go 
on as long as we liked to give them heat. If the platform is close to (lie 
front wall, have some openings, so that the air circulates all round. 
Cucumbers like bottom-heat fiom October to June. These notes may 
give a hint, but we are sadly at a loss to account for the mishaps and 
vagaries of Cucumbers of late. 
Vinery and Peachery (T. K.). —There are several typographical 
errors in the article alluded to by Mr. Fish, so that the meaning in some 
places is only perspicuous from the context, or, perhaps, you might 
have been saved the trouble of writing. We can only say that, as a 
whole, we approve highly of your plans, and have no doubt but that you 
will be satisfied with them. With a good boiler well set you would not 
lose a vast amount of heat; but, if fuel is valuable, you will find the flue a 
saving, and if we had it we would use it constantly, as, even when starting 
Vines, you can always have as little heat as you like, and even what little 
you may have may be without any waste. A flow and return four-inch 
pipe all round the house will do for early forcing; pipes along the front 
and ends would not be enough, unless there were more of them. A 
couple of pipes all round would do for the span-house, as there will not 
be much forcing. If you wish to remove the roof, you may use sashes 
as you say ; but why remove the roof of such a house ? If left, why not 
use strong sash-bars, fixed like Messrs. Rivers, Lane, &c. ? From one to 
two feet will be high enough for the walls of your span-roof. Of course 
you will have your walk in the centre, and that roof may either be fixed 
