166 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 7, 1908. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Propagating Poinsettias. 
Of all the brighteners of the greenhouse 
in winter, there is none to compare for bril¬ 
liancy of colour with the Poinsettia. And 
this brilliancy is not a fleeting vision, for 
a well-grown Poinsettia retains its beauty 
for a long time. As there is not a great 
amount of skill required to grow these gor¬ 
geous plants, I would advise everyone who 
has a well-heated greenhouse to make ar¬ 
rangements for growing a good batch for 
the ensuing winter. Those who have old 
plants may make a start now, for there is 
nothing gained by waiting until green shoots 
are produced and then striking them. In¬ 
stead of doing this, cut up the old stems into 
pieces, each containing at least two eyes or 
buds ; or three buds may be secured on each 
portion if bushy plants are desired. Allow 
the milky sap to dry a little, and then insert 
the pieces of stem as cuttings round the 
sides of small pots filled with sandy soil. 
Treat as is usual with cuttings, and pot off 
separately when rooted. 
Chrysanthemum Cuttings. 
Those who only want Chrysanthemums for 
the decoration of the greenhouse, or for fill¬ 
ing vases, should now put in a good batch 
of cuttings. Quite large tops of shoots will 
strike in a greenhouse at this season, and 
onwards for a fortnight or so, ana anyone 
may soon work up a good stock. Place four 
cuttings round the side of a four-inch pot, 
make them firm, water them in, and keep 
them shaded and syringed for a few days, 
and they will quickly root. They may then 
be potted off and grown on in the usual 
way. Or cuttings may be put singly in 
small pots, at the discretion of the cultivator. 
Decorative Pelargoniums. 
If good, bushy plants are wanted, the cut¬ 
tings struck last autumn should have their 
points pinched out ; this will cause back 
buds to break into growth and new shoots to 
form. When these new shoots are about an 
inch long, the plants should be repotted, 
placing those which are wanted to flower 
early in their flowering pots. These should 
be five inches in diameter, and washed 
scrupulously clean. The compost should 
consist mainly of good fibrous loam, to which 
a little old lime or mortar rubbish has been 
added. Pot firmly, and keep the plants well 
syringed to assist them in getting over any 
disturbance that the roots may have suffered. 
It is a mistake to grow these plants in a 
close, confined atmosphere; they like cool 
quarters and plenty of air. 
Hyacinths in Pots. 
These come in splendidly for the decora¬ 
tion of the greenhouse or dwelling-room at 
this season. To ensure the safety of the 
flower spikes when moving the plants about, 
each spike should have a stake. For this 
purpose there is nothing better than the wire 
stakes sold for these plants by nurserymen. 
These are painted green, and have a two¬ 
pronged base, which enables them to straddle 
the bulb in the pot, and so avoid injuring 
it. Feeding with liquid manure at every 
watering will help the spikes to attain a 
maximum size. If too many are coming in 
at once, put some in a cold frame to retard 
them. 
Bedding Plants in Boxes. 
If pots and time can be spared, it is well 
to pot off all bedding plants which are now 
in boxes. If placed singly in small pots 
there is no fear of a check at bedding out 
time, and the plants will appreciate the extra 
growing room thus given. There is no need 
to put crocks in the pots for this kind of 
work; a few half-decayed leaves are quite 
sufficient, and will save mess at bedding-out 
time. 
Alternantheras in Pots. 
These beautiful foliage bedding plants are 
invariably among the greenhouse charges, 
as they are decidedly tender of constitution. 
For this reason it is not wise to start pull¬ 
ing them about too early in the year, as 
they require more than the normal amount 
of heat to re-establish them. However, they 
may be taken in hand in most greenhouses 
now, and pulled into as many pieces as the 
grower thinks necessary. Each piece should 
be placed in a two-inch or thumb pot, with 
very sandy soil, and kept warm and syringed 
until it is growing freely. The plants 
should not be unduly coddled, as they have 
to do a turn in the flower beds outdoors, 
and will require very careful hardening off. 
Sweet Pea Cuttings. 
Judging from my own experience, I think 
it more than likely that many readers have 
to bemoan a shortage among their pot- 
raised plants this year, especially with novel¬ 
ties, for many of the seeds sold this year did 
not look big enough to contain a growing 
germ. Where failure has taken place, the 
grower should not overlook the fact that cut¬ 
tings of such plants as he may have raised 
will readily strike in a warm greenhouse. 
Cuttings should be taken from the tops of 
the plants, and prepared and inserted in th^ 
usual way; only, it is well to use a propa¬ 
gating case if one is at hand. The cuttings 
should be kept close until they are rooted, 
but then air in abundance should be given, 
or the plants will run up poor and spindling. 
I strike four cuttings round the side of a 
five-inch pot, and plant them out without 
any further potting. 
Sunnyside. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Cypripediums. 
The winter-flowering forms of Cypripe¬ 
diums that have not already passed out of 
flower should have their flower scapes re¬ 
moved, and every encouragement now be 
given to induce the plants to develop their 
new growths. The early flowering kinds, 
such as C. spicerianum, C. Charlesworthii, 
and some of the first flowered S. insigne 
varieties should now have their growth in 
a forward state, and repotting requirements 
in such cases may be attended to without de¬ 
lay. The later flowering hybrids which 
possess C. insigne, C. spioerianum, C. 
Charlesworthii, C. villosum, and C. Boxallii 
as one or both their parents must have some 
discretion used, and unless the new growths 
are fairly away from the base of the pre¬ 
ceding year’s growth and the new roots are 
making their appearance, the potting should 
be delayed until such time as the operator 
is satisfic'd that the plants are in a fit condi¬ 
tion to be disturbed. The whole of this sec¬ 
tion of plants should now be afforded more 
warm and moist conditions during the day 
time. 
Damping Down. 
The moisture in the atmosphere greatly as¬ 
sists the development of growth. The floors 
of the houses .should be damped as early as 
possible in the morning, providing that the 
normal degree of temperature has been 
reached. Towards midday, with the outside 
conditions favourable, damping the floors, 
staging, etc., should be done; then between 
three and four o’clock in the afternoon the 
ventilators should be closed and the damping 
also repeated. 
Ventilation at Night. 
Night air may be admitted by opening the 
lower ventilators slightly when the outside 
conditions are favourable. The giving of air 
at night or at any time at this season of the 
year must be done with discretion. Locali¬ 
ties and situations also make such a great 
difference in the required methods of treat¬ 
ment that no hard and fast rules can be ap¬ 
plied,’ but the judgment of a careful culti¬ 
vator should be the best, under the widely 
varying circumstances. 
Repotting. 
Repotting of this section of Cypripediums 
need not be annually resorted to. If a plant 
has ample rooting space and it has not out¬ 
grown the dimensions of its pot, providing 
the potting compost is not in a state of de¬ 
cay, I would advise that such plants should 
not be turned out of their pots for repotting 
purposes. Carefully examine the plants, re¬ 
move all dead and decaying material on the 
surface of the compost and about the base of 
the growths of the plants. Decayed leaf 
bracts at the base of the growth in particu¬ 
lar should be carefully removed so that they 
form no obstruction to advancing growths or 
new roots that may proceed from such 
growth. The material that has been re¬ 
moved may be replaced with good compost. 
Plants that have become root bound and re¬ 
quire repotting must be carefully ^turned out 
of their pots, avoiding as far as possible 
damaging the roots, which will be found at¬ 
tached to the sides of the pots. The old 
compost having been removed, should the 
plant have become hollow in the centre, the 
portions on the outside may be pulled asun 
der, placed together in the centre, and th ; 
hollowness thus avoided. 
Pots and Compost. 
The pots used should be plain and filled 
to one-third their depth with clean drainage. 
The potting compost of equal portions ol 
fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum moss i; 
the safest compost for amateurs, althougi 
turfy loam may be intermixed, in localitie: 
where a pure atmosphere prevails. Sufii 
cient coarse sand or finely broken crock- 
should be added ' to render the compos 
porous. Press moderately firm, and water a.- 
soon as repotting is completed with rair 
water. Shade from too strong light anc 
keep ample moisture in the atmosphere. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
Tulips Fashionable. 
Hitherto London has only enjoyed 1 
one-month display of Tulips, but this yea: 
special efforts have been made to obtaii 
a succession of bulbs, with the result tka 
Tulips will be in flower continuously righ 
up to the -end of May'. The prevailing 
colour note of the spring flower beds it 
the Royal Parks will be scarlet. 
;• i ■ 
Manures for Strawberry Plants. 
The “Revue de l’Horticulture” say 
that manures ought to be properl; 
managed which can cause too great ; 
development of vegetative growth at th 
expense of fructification. One obtains 
much better effect by means of chemica 
manures in the springtime when cleanin 
the Strawberries. The following is th 
formula employed by one of the greates 
gardeners in the precincts of the city 
according to the advice of the Marqui 
of Paris : Two to three hundred gramme 
per square yard of the following mixtur 
—500 grammes of nitrate of soda, 50 
grammes of sulphate of ammonia, 3 kilc 
grammes of superphosphate of lime, 
milligrammes of lime rubble and 2 mill: 
grammes of sulphate of iron. That woul 
cost about 2S. id. per hundredth part c| 
an acre, but one can get a large retur 
for this. Admirable Strawberries i 
great abundance are produced. 
