NOVEMBER. 
235 
Most or all the variegated-leaved Geraniums may be planted out after the 
middle of May if they have been properly hardened off; of course, late spring- 
struck cuttings pushed on in heat under the shade of Vines cannot be properly 
hardened off for planting out in May. When the greater part of the beds in 
our flower gardens were planted with Verbenas, Petunias, and similar plants, 
spring-struck cuttings answered admirably ; but Geraniums of all kinds should 
be struck in August. Only new kinds, or those of which a large stock may be 
wanted, should be struck in spring, and then it should be as early as possible, that 
the plants may become strong and be well hardened off before the end of May. 
Cuttings of Geraniums put in in August in any sandy soil and shaded a little 
from the sun, will strike root anywhere out-doors with little or no trouble. 
They get to be good strong plants before the short days and dull weather come 
on. They are easily wintered, and when potted off in spring and hardened off 
in cold frames without shading and with plenty of air, they can then be safely 
ventured out after the middle of May in ordinary seasons. If the beds have 
been properly prepared, and the plants are put out from the 15th to the 20th 
of May, they will be making fresh roots, and will get nicely established by the 
middle of June, and, though they may not have much growth at top, with 
favourable weather they will then push away rapidly, and will resist the hot 
weather of midsummer better than those late planted. When Tulips and 
other bulbs have been grown in the beds late planting cannot then be avoided. 
I recommend all amateurs and young gardeners who wish to have a good 
display in the flower garden early in the season, and wish it to continue as late 
as possible, to plant largely variegated-leaved Geraniums and ornamental 
coloured-leaved plants, as well as flowering plants, using the former freely for 
edgings and for combining with the latter. I recommend them to plant the 
variegated-leaved Geraniums in good rich soil, and the plain-leaved, Zonale, 
and Nosegay varieties in not very rich soil. If they do this the results will 
be satisfactory, 
Stourton. M. Saul. 
REMARKS ON FRUIT TREE CULTURE.—No. 14. 
In my last I detailed instances in which success was attained by altering 
the mode of treatment in the culture of the Apricot to one more consonant with 
the principles by which practice must be regulated; and my object lias been to 
point out in what way the method of culture adopted may be calculated to frus¬ 
trate instead of furthering the object in view, and thus, by placing the right 
and the wrong in opposition, to assist the mind in comprehending, and the 
memory in retaining, the probable causes which are likely to influence success 
or failure. I do not mean to say that I am always right, or that my deductions 
are invariably correct, or even logical; but I am so persuaded that fruit tree 
culture may with good reason be expected to take a much higher position in 
the future, owing to the greater facilities for acquiring knowledge, and conse¬ 
quent increase of intelligence on the part of all who avail themselves of those 
facilities, that I wish to keep the subject before the mind of the young gardeners 
of the present day, in the hope that their cultivated powers of mind may be 
brought to bear on this important subject; for when practice is founded on an 
intelligent comprehension of the leading principles by which vegetation is in¬ 
fluenced, something good will be sure to come of it; and if success does not 
always follow, and mistakes are made, there will be more valuable practical 
knowledge gained from the discovery and correction of such mistakes than from 
success which may be, and often is, the result of chance or highly favoured 
locality. 
