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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by Henry T. Williams, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
By Henry T. Williams. 
Vol. III. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER, 1874. 
HOW TO BUD GERANIUMS. 
The English gardeners have been very successful in 
their experiments in budding Geraniums, and inform 
us it can be done as easily as in the case of roses and 
other woody shrub ;. The 
stock, however, must be se- 
vigorous, tall-growing Zo- 
nale variety, and trained up 
with a single stem to the 
height you desire to form the 
head of the plant; and it must 
be of rank growth when the 
buds are inserted, or the bark 
will not open well. The bud¬ 
ding operation can be per¬ 
formed at any time—spring, 
summer or autumn — but the 
first season is the most pre¬ 
ferable. The buds should be 
selected from plants grown in 
the same temperature as the 
stock, because they will be 
more likely to live than it 
taken from those which have 
been forced in a higher atmos 
phere. 
The buds are to be inserted 
in the same way as is done 
in budding fruit-trees and 
roses. A good, prominent bud, 
just starting into growth, is 
the best, and a small leaf 
should be left on the bud, for 
if it is cut off the bud will 
almost surely die. The por¬ 
tion of woody fibre taken off 
with the bud should also be 
taken off, and this operation 
requires great care and deli¬ 
cacy of handling, particularly 
in the Ivy-leaved varieties of 
Geraniums, which are the 
most beautiful to use for this 
novel way of growing Gera¬ 
niums. But the bud must 
not be lacerated in the least, 
and yet the wood must be 
cut out, for if left in the bud 
will not sprout. A tall standard Geranium, budded 
with L’Elegante and Specious, — Ivy-leaved Gerani¬ 
ums, makes a very beautiful specimen plant. Or take a 
standard sixteen or eighteen inches in height, and bud 
variety, the contrast between 
it and the Zonale will be re¬ 
markably fine. 
As the varieties of the Zo¬ 
nale, Tri-color, Double and 
Ivy-leaved Geraniums are 
now most numerous, the dif¬ 
ferent shades of the flowers 
and markings of the foliage 
can be blended in the greatest 
variety of groupings, leaving 
a wide field for the operator 
to exhibit her taste and skill. 
the buds grow, she can pro¬ 
duce most elegant specimen 
plants for the window garden, 
A Parlor Flower Case. 
Heliotrope. — C. Irene 
asks, in the April Cabinet, 
what she shall do with her 
Heliotrope, or what the mat¬ 
ter is with it. I have a nice 
one—a slip last fall. Now 
it is quite tall and has a num¬ 
ber of large clusters of flowers 
on it. Mine did much as 
her’s did, I should think. I 
put some soot in a small ves¬ 
sel of some kind, and put boil¬ 
ing water to that, and in 
twenty-four hours put a little 
in the earth, repeating once a 
week. It gives the leaves a 
nice green, and gives it a good 
start, and is also good to kill 
worms in the earth. Give 
plenty of water. 
Mrs. J. Kelley. 
