170 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, December 9, 1856. 
standing the pots on, a shelf may be easily arranged along 
the hack of the pit, slung by three thicknesses of com¬ 
mon copper bell-wire from screws in each rafter. My own 
shelf is off-elm, 12 in. wide, and hung so as to leave 18 in. 
below to the surface of the coal-ashes. This shelf will accom¬ 
modate at least 200 more cuttings in small 48-pots. I pre¬ 
fer placing Verbena cuttings on this shelf. 
Thus it is quite an easy matter to stow as many as 1600 
cuttings in this four-light pit. 
Now with regard to striking cuttings. It is hardly 
assuming too much to suppose that the possessor of a 
garden like this possesses, also, half-a-dozen hand-lights; if 
this is the case he has at once the means of raising all his 
bedding-plants in the best manner, without the aid of a hot¬ 
bed or any artificial heat whatever. 
To begin with those first in order of time. All cuttings 
of Geraniums should be put in by the end of June, or even 
the middle of the month. They require no protection. In¬ 
deed, putting them under glass makes the striking of many 
kinds very precarious. I prefer striking the free-growing 
kinds several in one pot; but the old Scarlet Variegated , 
Mangles', Flower of the Day, Mountain of Light, &c., do bet¬ 
ter struck singly in 48-sized pots ; they are then not thrown 
back by repotting. A slight mixture of peat with the ordi¬ 
nary striking-soil will be found a great advantage for these 
difficult ones. These cuttings should be so placed that they 
may have shade for three hours or so in the middle of the 
day, but be exposed fully to the sun at other times, and care 
should be taken in keeping them quite moist. 
The next succession of cuttings are those of Verbenas, 
Heliotropes, Petunias, Lobelias, &c. These must be finished 
off in time for the hand-lights to be used for the Calceolarias 
at the end of September. If a garden-frame is to be had 
they may all be struck in it at once, placed in a somewhat 
shady place, with a layer of coal-ashes for the pots to stand 
on, and put in in the middle or end of August; but, if the 
hand-lights are the only resource, we must commence pro¬ 
ceedings quite in the beginning of that month, and then 
with a little care a great number of cuttings may be struck, 
and able to bear the air by the end of September. In strik¬ 
ing cuttings without heat an eye must be kept to the slugs 
and worms, which are great pests. A decoction of the green 
husks of walnuts (which may be preserved from year to 
year) will bring every worm out of the ground wherever it 
reaches, and a liberal sprinkling of lime will go a good way 
towards freeing one of slugs. These cuttings must be 
stopped back to the second joint, and kept stopped as long 
as they continue to grow. They will then winter well with¬ 
out potting off, will form nice bushy plants in the spring, 
may be potted off in April, and will start immediately they 
are turned into the beds in May. 
The wintering of Calceolarias under hand-lights has been 
alluded to frequently of late in The Cottage Gardener, so 
I need say no more about these cuttings than that a good 
heap of loose litter over the light is ample protection. Old 
plants of Calceolarias, if taken up sufficiently early and care¬ 
fully potted, are easily wintered in a shady, but dry corner, 
by raising a bank all round of turf, or boards and mould, 
two or three hurdles placed at the top, some old mats on 
them, and, in severe weather, plenty of loose litter over all. 
These old plants always “ come in useful,” as the saying is, 
and are quite worth the little trouble necessary to save 
them. 
Having now done with striking our cuttings, let us return 
to the pit. I prefer getting everything safe into the pit by 
the middle of October. The Geraniums inhabit the cooler 
end—Heliotropes, Petunias, Lobelias, &c., taking up the 
rest, with all the Verbenas for which room cannot be found 
on the shelf. I should have stated before that the interior 
I of the pit, quite from the foundation, must be filled with 
coal-ashes, pretty coarse and rough, finishing off at the top 
with a two or three-inch layer of finely sifted, for the greater 
convenience of standing the pots upright. Water may be 
given overhead with a rose till the middle of October, but 
not after, all through the winter. After that time water with 
a tin can with a long spout, such as engineers use for oiling 
machinery: it does not disturb the mould, and pours the 
water where you want it, without spilling any. A careful 
eye should be given to the pots all through the winter, that 
they may not get too dry, which they are very apt to do ; but, 
if firing has been sparingly used, very little watering will be 
required. 
I will now conclude with a few simple hints as to the 
winter management of the pit. 
Fresh air is the very best preservative of plants. The 
difficulty is to know how to get enough of this in very damp 
and in frosty weather. No one can pretend to give rules to 
suit every case; common sense and a little experience are 
what the amateur chiefly wants. The more air and light 
the plants have had in fine weather, the less they will suffer 
when it is very damp. In very muggy, wet weather, if you 
are afraid of a superabundance of moisture among the 
plants, tilt all the lights as usual, and keep a brisk fire burn¬ 
ing for about three hours in the middle of the day; but 
beware of indulging in a frequent use of the fire-place. 
With regard to frost, every gardener ought to have a Six’s 
upright thermometer, which registers the extremes of heat 
and cold, placed against a north wall, and should keep a 
written account of the extremes each day. He will then be 
able to form a pretty correct judgment as to the amount of 
frost that may be expected any night, and the following facts 
will be all he wants as a guide. The pit is safe against a 
sudden frost coming after mild weather, with shutters and 
mats over the glass, even if the glass fall to 10° or 12° of 
frost, without any fire. In long-continued frost, with shut¬ 
ters and mats as before, and the fire lighted at two o’clock 
and kept in till seven, the pit is safe with the thermometer 
outside down at 5° during the night. In a long frost bear 
in mind this circumstance—that coal-ashes imbibe and retain 
a considerable amount of heat, so that if there was a brisk 
fire yesterday (the brickwork at the side of the furnace feel¬ 
ing warm to the hand), a less fire to-day will be sufficient. 
When the fire is low and intended to be let out, close the 
top of the chimney with a bundle of mat, or old cloth of any 
kind, so as completely to stop the draught, and place the 
cover over the stoke-hole at the same time; the flue will 
then retain its heat for hours longer than it would otherwise. 
Of course it is a very good plan to keep a second register 
thermometer constantly in the pit. At all events I should 
advise a beginner to commence with doing so. 
I find that I have omitted to state that the furnace should 
be 11 in. wide and 10 in. high to the top of the arching; the 
stoke-hole is 3 ft. 6 in. square, and should have a stout 
boarded cover of inch-and-a-lialf deal. 
This pit is suitable for growing both Melons and Cucum¬ 
bers by taking out the coal-ashes and filling their place with 
dung, and, of course, putting up a wooden partition to keep 
the two kinds of plants separate. 
I hope that Mr. Beaton will be kind enough to supply any 
omissions I may have made in these elementary remarks 
for beginners. I am but little removed from that condition 
myself, and speak from only a few years’ experience. I am 
sorry he should think I “ hit him hard ” in the matter of the 
Diadematum regiiim, especially as he has treated me so 
handsomely. I am perfectly willing to allow that scientific 
people do use the Latin language on a different system from 
that in use at the Universities, and I will not again disturb 
them in their right.—H. C. K.,- Rectory, near Hereford. 
GRAPES FOR THE MILLION. 
{Continued from page 149.) 
What I advised the two previous autumns relative to the 
disposal of the lateral spray, and pruning back to well- 
ripened wood, need not be repeated; but I will add a few 
remarks as regards the chief operator — sunshine. It 
will probably be found necessary to deprive the Vines, 
at this and future seasons, of about one-fourth of their 
leaves during the first fortnight in October, singling out 
those which underlay, or are less mature than the others ; 
for the foliage which is at this period of most importance 
is that which has arrived at substance and maturity. The 
shoots which fruited this season cut entirely away in No¬ 
vember; and the secondaries, which are to produce the 
fruiting shoots for the ensuing year, should be pruned to 
meet, or nearly so, at their points ; and then with a sharp 
knife slice off every bud they have formed on their upper 
surface, as they, for the climax 1 am about to arrive at next 
year, would be found detrimental if they remained, in con- 
