April IT, 18S6. THE GARDENING WORLD. 517 
to propagate by cuttings, layers, or grafting, instead 
of in the natural way, the plants so severed from the 
mother plant and brought to form a new plant retain¬ 
ing the desired double flowers.” What do our readers 
say to this ? 
The Effects of the Frost on the Euca¬ 
lyptus. —It lias been deadly. Many a fine specimen 
15 ft. to 20 ft. high, growing in the suburbs of London 
has been hopelessly killed, and now present a very 
sorry appearance. The Eucalypti are pictorial trees, 
of a handsome and distinct character making a rapid 
growth, and soon growing into size. No doubt many 
will plant again. It may be fairly assumed that they 
will be cut down by frost once in five or six years, but 
that matters but little for they are at their handsomest 
and most picturesque size when three and four years 
old. 
Grass Seed Contracts. —We understand that 
the contract for supplying Grass seeds to the Royal 
parks has been obtained by Messrs. Raynbird, Cal¬ 
decott, Bawtree, Dowling & Co., of Basingstoke ; and 
for the present year Messrs. Carter, Page & Co., London 
Wall, E.C., will supply the Metropolitan Board of 
Works. 
The Scottish Pansy Society’s forty-second 
annual competition will take place in the Odd Fellow's 
Hall, Forest Road, Edinburgh, on Friday, June 18tli. 
Chrysanthemum Shows. — The Ancient 
Society of York Florists will hold its annual exhibition 
and musical fete on November 17th, 18th, and 19th. 
The Pudsey and District Chrysanthemum Society’s 
second show is fixed for November 20th, and that of 
the Tadcaster and District Society on December 1st. 
Carter’s “Practical Gardener.” —Messrs. 
James Carter & Co. have just issued a new edition (the 
12th) of their Practical Gardener, a most useful guide 
to amateurs, so well known now as to require no praise 
from us to recommend it. 
A New Insecticide.— Professor A. H. Church 
has recently directed attention to a new insecticide. 
The preparation in question is essentially a complete and 
permanent emulsion, in which has been incorporated a 
large quantity of such oily liquids (including certain 
kinds of paraffin oil) as destroy the insect pests of plants. 
Hitherto the rough methods in use for preparing such 
emulsicns have failed to effect the perfect distribution 
of the oily matter in the wash, and, in consequence, 
oily drops of sensible size have spotted and injured the 
leaves and tender shoots of the plants. The sample 
exhibited contained two-thirds of its bulk of the above 
named oils, along with other useful ingredients. On 
dilution with water no separation of the oils takes place. 
For very tender and succulent plants half an ounce of 
the emulsion in a gallon of rain water forms a syring¬ 
ing wash, which proves fatal to green fly, red spider, 
brown-scale, and even mealy-bug, without inflicting 
any injury to the flowers or foliage of the plants to 
which it is applied. The proportion may be increased 
in the case of more robust plants—even 4 oz. to 1 gal. 
may in some cases be used, though much w T eaker 
solutions are in the great majority of cases perfectly 
effective. The plants if at all delicate should be 
syringed with fresh water two hours after the insecticide 
has been applied. By appropriate chemical methods 
various substances may be introduced into the emulsion 
in order to meet special requirements of gardeners and 
hop-growers. For instance, sulphur in a free state, and 
yet in a perfectly soluble form, has been added to some 
of the preparations, and proves to be an efficient pre¬ 
ventive and cure of mildew in roses. 
-- 
COAL DUST AS MANURE. 
General as the belief has previously been that coal 
dust and coal ashes was worthless rubbish, and of no 
possible good in the garden or field where vegetables 
are cultivated, and would be better hauled away to fill 
up au unsightly hole somewhere or repair the roads with, 
seems at last has been proved a common error. 
Of course it was admitted that its mechanical action 
only upon heavy clayey soils might be as beneficial as 
so much coarse river sand would be, yet it was very 
doubtful if it possessed any other value. And I confess 
that for many years I entertained a similar opinion, 
and would have willingly allowed anyone to have re¬ 
moved it as a nuisance glad to get rid of. Although 
we may long remain mistaken about many matters, 
sooner or later “time discloses all things,” and even 
the virtue of coal dust and ashes has at last been dis¬ 
covered, and made known to all good men. 
Late experiments have proved to me that either on 
light friable loam or sandy land, even as sandy as much 
of New Jersey soil is, it is one of the best fertilizers I 
ever used. Wherever it was freely applied, either in 
the vegetable or flower garden, its beneficial effects 
were remarkable. Carrots, Turnips and Parsnips 
seemed to delight in it; while Peas Beans, Salsafy and 
Beets appeared to glory in it : and for such like things 
as Potatos, Onions and Tomatoes, why they, “like 
Pardoe’s pig, grew fat and big” among it. And, talk 
of the flowers, that tasted it, oh, “such beauties they 
did grow,” and did indeed “astonish the Browns” 
when passing by. — IV. T. Harding, in American 
Gardeners' Monthly. 
-->X<--- 
PERSIAN RANUNCULUS. 
At one time the varieties of Ranunculus were as 
numerous as those of the Chrysanthemum are now, and 
the flower occupied almost as much public attention as 
“the queen of autumn,” but of late years the brilliantly 
coloured Asiatic Crow’s-foot has been greatly neglected, 
and it is only in a few old gardens that it is seen grown 
in quantity and perfection. It is difficult to account 
for this neglect, except on the ground of the change of 
fashion, and also, perhaps, because more easily grown 
plants have taken their place for spring and summer 
bedding. The old florists gave very elaborate direc¬ 
tions for the culture of the Ranunculus, as they did for 
Persian Ranunculus. 
many other flowers ; but it is by no means necessary 
to follow all the minute details they deemed essential, 
and attention to a few matters will enable anyone to 
succeed with them. 
The most important point is to provide a thoroughly 
well-worked soil, consisting of rich free loam, to which 
a good dressing of old manure has been applied and well 
incorporated with it, or, as some prefer, a layer of 
manure is placed at adepth of 9 ins. or 10 ins., the soil 
over this, and a top-dressing of manure above the roots. 
The position should be a moist one, and when the plants 
are growing water must be supplied liberally, as any 
tendency to drought causes much injury to the plants, 
and stunts the flowers. Various times are advised for 
planting, some advocating autumn, others February, 
and still others March. The last-named is the month 
we usually choose, when the weather is favourable ; but 
this season we delayed the planting until the present 
month, for it is useless to attempt placing such tender 
plants as these out while the ground is frozen, or there 
is a chance of severe frost. 
The roots are placed in drills about 2 ins. below the 
surface, and a little sand is dusted round them before 
covering with the soil. The surface is firmed with the 
back of a spade, and a light top-dressing of old manure 
is then spread over. If the bed has an exposed position, 
a few rods bent over it will support some shading 
material when the sun is very hot; but in moderately 
shaded positions this is not needed, a few light sticks 
only being required to secure the flowers to. The 
varieties can be had in many colours—yellow, orange, 
scarlet, crimson, rose, and black ; all are beautiful, and 
I should much like to see them become favourites 
again.— R. T. 
PROPAGATING BY CUTTINGS. 
The art of increasing stocks of plants by means of 
cuttings is an old one, but its development has been 
slow as regards its application to the more difficult 
classes of plants, such as Cape Heaths and New Holland 
plants. Indeed, the propagating of these and other 
similarly intractable subjects is even now somewhat of 
a sealed art, almost exclusively possessed by that im¬ 
portant personage in every complete nursery establish¬ 
ment—the professional propagator. Fortunately, most 
of the subjects with which the forester ordinarily has 
to deal are easy of management, and require the use of 
no very special facilities in the way of propagating 
houses and other adjuncts which are indispensable 
when the operations include a wide range of subjects. 
The rationale of the process is based on the inherent 
power of almost any part of a plant to form roots and 
establish itself, when by accident or intention it is 
detached from the parent stem. This vital power is 
possessed in a much larger degree by some plants than 
by others ; many have it in such a high degree, that 
their roots, stems, branches, leaves, and flower stems, 
if chopped up, will in favourable circumstances form 
independent plants. Incidentally it may be remarked 
here that there are many curious evidences of imperfect 
possession of this latent vital force, which are, to say 
the least, puzzling. It is an easy matter, for instance, 
to induce the leaf of a Cucumber to emit roots and live 
for a time, perhaps as long as the average duration of 
the life of the parent plant, which is annual. But it 
is impossible to induce it to send forth a stem ; it is 
imperfect in this respect, that, while it can develop the 
descending axis or the roots, it does not possess the 
power to produce the ascending axis or stem, and con¬ 
sequently no plant in the complete sense can result 
from the process. In the genus Begonia, and many 
others, on the other hand, the leaves may be chopped 
up into small bits, each of which has the power, under 
favourable conditions, of establishing itself as a perfect 
plant. But this power of reproduction from the leaves 
alone is given only to comparatively few classes of 
plants, and such as have it are outside the line of the 
forester’s walk in general. The more woody and 
arborescent the plant may be, it is generally found 
that the process of reproduction by cuttings becomes 
more difficult. In a general way, also, the more dense 
and hard the texture of the wood of any subject is, the 
difficulty is correspondingly increased. 
The first process that takes place after a cutting is 
made and planted is the formation of a Callus, or a 
l ing of grauular matter at its base. Without this there 
can be no production of root fibres. This Callus is 
elaborated from the true sap, that which is descending 
from the upper extremities, and is charged with matter- 
in the right chemical condition to repair waste, heal 
wounds, and add to the structure of the plant. It 
cannot be formed by the sap in flow, that is, the 
ascending sap. Yet this idea is conveyed by many who 
write and have written on the subject, especially in 
giving directions respecting the proper time to select 
and make cuttings. The crude sap drawn direct from 
the soil cannot of itself contribute to the formation of 
roots or any other organ, till it is chemically changed 
by the action of the constituents of the atmosphere, 
which change takes place chiefly in the leaves, but also 
more or less in every herbaceous part of the plant. It 
is only at or near the end of the season of growth that 
this process of elaboration if perfected ; and it is only 
therefore then in a general way—with regard to woody 
or liard-wooded plants—that the work of propagation 
by cuttings may properly be engaged in ; but the 
sooner thereafter they are made and planted, the 
greater are the chances of success. This consideration 
is of the utmost importance, and it applies more 
generally and with greater force to deciduous than to 
evergreen trees and shrubs. Many of the latter class 
may indeed be propagated from very immature or 
partially ripened cuttings, if they are protected from 
the exhausting effects of the atmosphere by means of 
glass, and are shaded from the direct rays of the sun. 
But cuttings of deciduous trees and shrubs as a rule, 
except they are ripe and contain a full amount of fully 
elaborated true sap, will die under the experiment, no 
matter what precautions may have been taken to 
prevent that result. I have run the risk of being 
tedious over this point, rather than be misunderstood 
by the inexperienced, as it has the most important 
bearing on the proper choice of cuttings and the time 
