September 12, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 585 
Propagating . . . 
Antirrhinums from cuttings. 
T 
with it. Most plants which are admired 
for the sake of their flowers require more 
or less sunshine, and while shelter is de¬ 
sirable they should not be over confined if 
the owner can avoid it. Shelter, light 
and air are the necessaries, but, given 
these, any cultivator, Who is at all enthu¬ 
siastic about his work, should be able to 
grow this showy Mallow-wort. The 
flowers are amongst the largest of this 
family, and very few annuals wall pro¬ 
duce larger, particularlv in the case of 
M. trifida grandiflora. 
Being one of the hardy annuals, this 
may be sown in the open ground at any 
time during April, and when the seed¬ 
lings are two inches high they should be 
thinned out to allow each plant to attain 
something of its natural proportions. 
Under such conditions the stems will 
branch freely and produce large quan¬ 
tities of these showy flowers during July, 
August and September. Indeed, the 
plants that have been flowering since 
July have been greatly stimulated by the 
recent abundant rain which has fallen. 
The accompanying illustration repre¬ 
sents a bunch of flowers grown by Mr. 
A. E. Witty, an enthusiastic amateur, 
with a garden on the new estate at Wan- 
stead Park. This bunch of flowers in¬ 
cluded dark red, light red, pale pink and 
white flowers, all of which may be had 
in one packet of seed, or they may be 
had separately if the owner so desires. 
-- 
The Silver=Leaved . . 
Tansy. 
Where the common Tansy grows plenti¬ 
fully in the wild state very few would 
think of cultivating it. The crisp-leaved 
variety is often cultivated as a herb 
for garnishing and similar purposes, but 
very few would think of growing it for 
ornamental purposes. The above Tansy 
is not at all like the common one either 
in stature nor in the colour of the leaves. 
The whole plant is only a few inches in 
height, and the small finely divided, or 
feathery leaves are covered with a coat¬ 
ing of white cottony-looking hairs. AT 
rhough a native of Asia Minor, the plant 
s hardy if planted in a rather dry situa- 
:ion on the rockery, or elevated in some 
pay, so that the moisture will run freel} 
|iway in winter. Near smoky towns, 
lowever, this foliage gets much spoiled 
ay the amount of soot in the atmosphere, 
rnd for that reason I like to grow it in 
x>ts, so that it may be kept in a cold 
frame or the greenhouse during the 
Ivinter months at least. When the foliage 
s made under glass it is beautifully 
lean, and almost as white as Centaurea 
.andidissima. When grown in this 
ountry, it may be used to brighten the 
greenhouse when flowers are scarce, and 
when kept entirely under glass it looks 
jauch cleaner than when allowed to get 
oiled by exposure to a dirty atmosphere, 
r even to the splashing up of miid b) 
; ain. D. 
-- 
The Blackberry harvest in England 
and Wales this year will, it is expected, 
>e exceptionally large. 
The two leading methods by which 
Antirrhinums are propagated are by 
jeeds and by cuttings. If raised from 
seed they require to be sown late in the 
previous season to that in which they are 
expected to bloom, or they must be sown 
in heat early in spring. 
By means of cuttings this care is con¬ 
siderably lessened, while it may also 
happen that varieties or seedlings occur 
in a garden where the owner desires to 
preserve them and propagate them. 
Several varieties of Antirrhinums can be 
propagated from seed and come fairly 
true, but if cuttings are taken they will 
certainly come true to their parents. The 
present is an excellent time to take 
cuttings of fine varieties intended for 
bedding or planting out when the weather 
gets mild next spring. 
The first care is to get proper cuttings 
and the most certain way is to select 
short side shoots which have not flowered 
and the nearer the base of the plant so 
much the better, as they have greater 
vigour and root more readily. If taken 
in the early part of September, however, 
there is no difficulty in rooting these 
cuttings. If the owner took care to cut 
away the seed pods after the plants 
bloomed, cuttings will be obtainable by 
this time on the lower portion of the 
stems. 
All that is necessary is to pull off these 
short shoots, laying hold of them with 
the finger and thumb and pulling down- 
wards so as to get the heel with the 
cuttings. This may necessitate pulling 
off the leaf in the axil of which the 
cutting arises, but that is of no import¬ 
ance now, as the plants will soon be 
pulled up and discarded. This leaf may 
be pulled off, and if the lowest pair of 
leaves on the cutting come too low they 
mar aho be removed, and the cutting is 
ready for insertion. If a piece of skin 
comes off at the heel of the cutting that, 
of course, could be trimmed off with a 
sharp knife, thus leaving nothing to 
decay. 
Drain some boxes according to re¬ 
quirements, fill them up with some light 
sandy compost, make this firm and pro¬ 
ceed to insert the cuttings in rows, some¬ 
what after the manner shown in the 
accompanying illustration. Make each 
cutting firm as the work proceeds, and 
when the box is filled, water down the 
soil with a rosed watering pot and place 
the box in a cold frame facing the south: 
Keep the frame closed for about a week, 
and shading may be given during the 
heat of the day if the sun is strong after 
the cuttings are newly inserted. At the 
end of that time a little air may be given 
and this may be gradually increased as 
the cuttings show Signs of having com¬ 
menced to root by growing. 
These boxes should, of course, be kept 
in the frame all winter to keep them dry. 
Antirrhinums are perfectly hardy, except 
in rich garden soils, and that is the 
reason why it is necessary to keep them 
in a cold frame all the winter. Some 
time in April, when the weather becomes 
genial, they can be planted out if the 
ground is unoccupied. By planting them 
at this time they will commence to grow 
much sooner than if kept till the end of 
May, which is the usual bedding time. 
-- 
A New Anti-Fat. 
A diet of Vegetable Marrows is being 
recommended as a means of reducing 
weight. They must be boiled in their 
rinds in order to retain their natural 
salts, and be eaten as hot as possible. 
Death of Mr. George Bethel). 
The death took place, at his residence, 
“ The Firs,” South Woodford, on the 27th 
August, of Mr. George Bethel 1 , who for 
many years took an active part in the 
horticultural world, being a Fellow of 
the Royal Horticultural Society, and for 
38 years a subscriber to the Gardener’s 
Royal Benevolent Institution. The de¬ 
ceased was in his 76th year. 
Pt opagaling Antirrhinums from cuttings. 
