200 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Nov. 29th, 1881. 
Propagating Chrysanthemums. — Some of 
your readers may think I must have been hard up 
for a subject to want to give instructions on so 
simple a matter as Propagating Chrysanthemums; 
but such is really not the case, for it is my firm 
opinion that many failures are caused by the treat¬ 
ment the cuttings are subjected to during propaga¬ 
tion, that are frequently attributed to their after 
treatment. We have all often read the reports of 
the fine shows of Chrysanthemums annually held 
in Mr. Turner’s nursery at Slough, and the man 
who had charge of these for a long time, once told 
me the great secret of Chrysanthemum culture was 
never to let the plants or cuttings feel a bit of heat. 
By this it is not meant that the flowers should not 
be brought forward a little in heat if flowers are 
particularly required for any special purpose, but was 
advanced against the evil of placing the cuttings in 
heat to strike the quicker. 
The Chrysanthemum above all flowers should be 
a favourite with the amateur, for what is there that 
better adapts itself to his convenience ? This is the 
time to commence the culture of the plant, and all 
that is required is a cool frame or a box in which 
Cucumbers may - have been grown in the summer 
months, some loam and leaf soil in equal parts, 
with sufficient sand to keep the whole porous. Then 
take some thumb pots that have been previously 
prepared by placing one crock and a few small ones 
over it in the bottom, next a sprinkling of leaf-soil that 
has failed to pass through the sieve, and fill up with 
compost, pressing it moderately firm and on the top 
putting a sprinkling of sand, when all will be ready 
for the cutting. 
This should be taken off with an old knife, 
cutting them off some depth below the surface of 
the soil, where they come up like suckers, this 
is best done before the cuttings get too large. 
Great care should be taken to get them properly 
labelled, and by taking the cutting now, one has a 
double advantage, as we have the flower to guide us. 
The cuttings will now be ready to be gone over, and 
cut with a sharp knife at a joint, and inserted singly 
in the centre of small pots previously prepared, placing 
a label to each, after which they should receive a good 
watering to settle them in and be placed in the cold 
frame previously mentioned, when they should be 
kept rather close, carefully removing any mouldy 
or decaying leaves as they appear. They will not 
require any further attention, except it be to cover 
the frame with some protecting material to protect 
them from severe frost. If any are found to 
die, one has simply to get another cutting of the same 
variety and insert it in the same pot, and the same 
label and soil answers for it. I am certain, from 
experience, that to take cuttings and treat them in 
this way, and also take others a mbnth later and 
place them severally in small pots in heat, at flowering¬ 
time, the former will have an immense advantage over 
the latter by their robust habit and fine flowers.— 
C. IF. C. 
THE FRUIT-ROOM. 
This is usually located at the back of the hot¬ 
houses in company with the tool and potting sheds, 
and beyond the shelves for the fruit its structural 
arrangements differ but little from them in many 
instances. Like all other erections against the walls 
of hot-houses, the fruit-room will be more or less 
affected by the heat and moisture maintained in the 
houses. If the wall on the inside of the house is 
covered with climbing-plants which are kept con¬ 
stantly syringed and the temperature of a stove is 
kept up, we have conditions about us unfavourable to 
the preservation of the fruit as it is possible to 
conceive. 
These defects in fruit-rooms are not confined to 
those erected years ago, but are associated with 
some of modern construction. I looked into one 
recently which had not been completed more than two 
years, yet its interior lead one to suppose that it had 
been in existence for an age. The back wall was 
bluish-black, and mouldy-looking, the effects of damp 
arising from syringing the fruit-trees on the opposite 
side, combined with that rising from below in con¬ 
sequence of the heavy waterings applied to the borders 
which were higher than the floor of the room. The 
frame-work supporting the shelves was varnished 
pitch-pine, but the damp had rendered it unrecog¬ 
nizable, so that altogether the aspect of the w*hole 
interior was most repelling. The builder must have 
entirely overlooked the conditions requisite for the 
preservation of fruit, in this instance, if he had ever 
made himself acquainted with them at all. Some 
gentlemen are so readily inveigled by the novelty and 
apparent cheapness of the contemptible articles v'hich 
some builders choose to dangle before them, that they 
accept them without consulting their gardeners, who 
should know a little about such matters. I -would advise 
all gentlemen about to build such an important 
structure as a fruit-room, not only to consult their 
gardeners, but to demand from the builder some proof 
of his capacity by reference to similar buildings of his 
construction elsevdiere, and, if possible, have them 
duly inspected. 
D amp and ill-constructed fruit - rooms may be 
improved by lining the interior walls with grooved and 
tongued-boards fixed an inch or two from the wall. 
The air-space thus provided will be the means of 
maintaining a more uniform temperature as well as 
providing a cure for clamp; and the plan might also 
be advantageously adopted in the erection of new 
rooms. To prevent damp rising from the ground, I 
would suggest that the first layer of bricks above the 
ground-line should be well covered with pitch in a 
boiling state. The best fruit-room I have seen is the 
one at Crewe Hall, Cheshire. It is not a very large 
one, and is, I believe, devoted only to the choice late 
kinds (a larger one being used for the commoner sorts). 
It is constructed inside another thick-walled building, 
which was once from base to summit a pigeon-house 
of such dimensions that the lower pari has been 
converted into a stable and coach-house, above 
which is the fruit-room in question. I had con¬ 
structed a very useful one before seeing this, by 
boarding off a portion of a liay-loft, at one end of 
which there was a small window. This was also over 
a coach-house. 
One fact should be mentioned in connection with 
the wooden fruit-room I have alluded to. The roof of 
the coach-house had a good ceiling, so that no frost 
could get through the floor. Where this is not the 
case, a separate floor for the fruit-room should be 
made, and the space between it and the loft floor be 
filled with sawdust. 
Stages on Shelves are, so far as I am aware of, 
made only of two materials—wood and slate. The 
usual method of employing the first is in the form of 
battens, about 2 ins. wide, with a space left between 
each when nailing them down, which practice, it is 
alleged, is necessary to admit air round the fruit. I have 
had experience of this kind of stage, and also with slabs 
of Welsh slates, which, it is contended, maintain the 
fruit cool and do not rob it of its juices, and so 
hasten shrivelling. I have not perceived any difference 
in that respect between fruit stored on these and that 
on the wooden floor of the room ; but I have one great 
objection to slate, for I have found that if a decayed 
fruit is not detected at once, the moisture, owing to 
the slates being non-absorbent, will spread under 
several more, with results that I need not mention; 
whereas those on the boards when they decay the 
juice that exudes is confined to the space occupied by 
the fruit, and partially, if not wholly, is absorbed by 
the wood, and seldom gives any trouble. 
The divisional wood-staging is frequently a source 
of mischief if the spaces are too wide, as in that case 
the fruit sinks in, and rests on the edges of the two 
pieces of wood, and if more than one layer is placed 
on them the pressure will be sufficient to impress the 
fruit. I had to deal once with a stage of this kind, 
and got over the difficulty by cutting clean wheat 
straw of sufficient length to reach across the stage, 
and by spreading only a very thin layer there was 
not sufficient straw to act adversely on the fruit, 
and it effectually prevented them entering these 
openings. 
I am disposed to think that a boarded stage is as 
good as anything, and a trifle cheaper than the 
divisional stage, as well as being much more con¬ 
venient to arrange the fruit upon. Some of the 
advocates of the open-stage may ask, What about air 
round the fruit ? Well, I fear its importance has 
been over-rated, and its need is denied by the patrons 
of slate, as well as by those who wrap up their fruits 
in paper and store them away in drawers or boxes. 
Probably some of the practical readers of The Garden¬ 
ing World have made comparative trials with fruit¬ 
staging, and will give us the benefit of their experi¬ 
ence.— North. 
—- —- 
SOUVENIR DE LA MALMAISON 
CARNATION. 
Mr. Leopold de Rothschild’s clever gardener at 
Ascott, Mr. Jennings, grows these beautiful flowers 
to the greatest perfection, and in such quantity that 
a sight of them in the months of May or June, at 
Ascott, is not likely to be forgotten ; a span-roofed 
house, nearly 50 ft. in length, being entirely filled with 
sturdy plants, covered with their large delicate pink 
flowers, and arranged with Maiden-hair Ferns. Not 
only is the house kept full for a considerable period, 
but Mr. Jennings has usually many plants to spare 
which are not wanted for that purpose, and these are 
used for decoration, and making groups out-of-doors. 
Our illustration will serve to give an idea of the beauty 
of this plant as grown at Ascott, and its usefulness 
for cutting is so well-known that we need not say 
more on that point. 
Whilst on the subject, it will be advisable to give 
Mr. Jennings’s method of treatment. In the first week 
in July, all the plants intended for propagation are 
plunged in their pots in a cold pit, on a mixture of 
loam, peat, and sand, and they are at once layered in 
it. The lights are left off the pit, but are not taken 
away, so that in case of very heavy and continued 
rains, they may be put on and tilted, as excess of 
moisture is detrimental to the free rooting of the 
layers. In the beginning of August, the layers are 
potted into large 60-size pots, and still left in the 
cold pit, the plants being potted on as they seem to 
require it until September, when the whole batch is 
shifted into large 32’s 24’s, and 16-size pots, each 
according to its strength, and in these they remain to 
flower. 
The compost used in potting consists of two- 
thirds of good turfy yellow loam, and one-third of 
peat and sand, and a dash of soot is added to the 
wdiole, to check the wire-worm, which -works such 
mischief on the plants. Great care is also taken to 
well crock the pots. At the end of the summer the 
lights are put over the plants, but they are left in the 
cold airy pits all the winter, and removed to the 
greenhouses in April, where they continue to bloom 
until July, when they are again taken in hand for 
propagation for the following year. Any plants which 
are not wanted for layering, however, are allowed to 
remain, and they often bloom on for a considerable 
time. 
Mr. Jennings renews his stock every year, and we 
may mention that all the plants shown in our 
illustration, as well as those in the Carnation-house, 
are not a year old; this plan of annual renewal 
being in Mr. Jennings’s opinion, the best, neatest, and 
safest. Those who wish it, however, may grow the 
same specimens for years, as he used to do, before he 
took to growing a large quantity, when the unevenness 
of the plants of various ages, and their liability to 
sudden death, suggested the plan to him, which he 
now pursues, and which he has good evidence of 
being a perfect success. 
MOSS ROSES. 
The origin of the first Moss Rose appears to be 
involved in some obscurity. By one authority it is 
said to have been introduced from Holland in 1596, 
and it is believed to have sported from the Provence 
Rose. By another it is said to have originated in 
Switzerland, and it is known botanically as Rosa 
centifolia muscosa; the distinguishing character of 
the Moss Rose being the result of hypertrophy of the 
calyx. Rosa centifolia is the Cabbage, or Provence 
Rose, which has large, unequal prickles, pendulous 
flowers and oblong fruit. It is said to be a native of 
the Caucasus, and is one of the types from which the 
Otto of Roses is obtained. 
