338 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
sweetness of their lives is only more manifest when 
tied to the stake. Save the best portion of the border 
for these bnlbs, which should be planted in the Spring. 
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Impatiens Sultani (See illustration page 323). But few 
plants of recent introduction are meeting with more 
favor than this. And for a border plant there are none 
prettier or more useful. It is a rapid grower, of compact 
form, and is at all times completely covered with flow¬ 
ers. It delights in an open, sunny position, and will 
thrive where many other plants will barely live. It 
does not seed freely but is readily propagated by cut¬ 
tings, which root freely in an ordinary propagating 
house. Its mission seems to be to bloom, and it does 
not falter in its work. Cuttings, in the propagating 
bench, seem to flower as freely as well established 
plants. Cuttings taken off in summer will make fine 
winter blooming plants. 
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Missionary Work. We think the first work the 
Society of American Florists should take in hand, 
would be to establish a missionary fund, sufficiently 
large to send a few of our “under-gardeners” to Eng¬ 
land to teach the art of propagation, a work judging 
from the following article in the Garden, they little 
understand. 
“ I obtained several pipings of this Pink (Mrs. Sinkins) 
early last September, and made them into cuttings 
about four inches long, cutting them at a joint, as in 
layering, and leaving a heel to each, one or two inches 
in length. These I put in four and one-half inch pots, 
in light sandy soil. I filled the pots to within one and 
one-half inches of the rim, and placed the pipings 
round the sides with the portions of the stems left lying 
toward the centre, using a small peg to keep them 
firmly in their places; I then covered them with sand 
and put a small portion of soil over the sand, and if 
propagated in this way, scarcely one will fail to root. 
The pots should be placed under a hand-light or frame, 
which should be kept close until the plants are rooted, 
but whether in a frame or under a hand-light, the glass 
should be painted with some whitewash to break the 
strong rays of the sun. Thus protected, they may be 
placed in any position. I prefer a warm, sunny spot, 
where they soon form roots, and are ready to pot singly 
in three inch pots ; but when set in a shady situation 
they often damp-off and will be found much longer in 
forming roots. In my case every cutting rooted in six 
weeks ; I then potted them off singly in three inch pots 
using good rich loamy soil, with a portion of rotted 
Mushroom manure mixed with it, and a good mixture 
of sharp silver sand to keep the whole compost open, 
f placed the pots in a cold frame plunged up to their 
rims in.sifted ashes, which kept the roots cool and pre¬ 
vented the pots cracking during frosty weather. I 
potted several of the strongest plants when rooted, in 
four and one-half inch pots, and placed them in a cold 
pit during the winter. Early in February, I transferred 
them into six inch pots, potting firmly in good rich 
soil; they were then placed in a warm greenhouse 
along with young tree Carnations, where they grew 
freely, and soon produced flower-stems. As soon as the 
flower-buds made their appearance, I gave each plant 
one teaspoonful of Clay’s fertilizer, stirring it into the 
surface of the soil and watering at the same time. 
Thus treated, I had some fine large blooms, and the 
plants had a healthy appearance .... 
Mrs. Sinkins grown in pots gave us a good supply of 
white flowers long before we had any white Pinks 
ready to cut from out-door plants, and the remainder 
planted in a border, are yieldmg a good crop of flowers. 
Mrs. Sinkins is much better than the old white Pink. 
It produces finer flowers which have a rich clove smell. 
They last a long time when cut, either in flower vases 
or as button-hole bouquets. This Pink grows too, 
just as freely as our old favorite, the white Pink.” 
W.C. 
We print the above communication to the Garden, as 
its reading will afford our American Florists no little 
amusement to see how much useless labor is performed 
by gardeners who certainly ought by this time to have 
^discovered the shortest and best methods of propagation, 
instead of giving instruction of such a character as 
would prevent any man from propagating a plant at 
such a cost. This Pink which is the same as “Mrs. 
Sinkit” illustrated in our issue for June, 1884, is 
treated by our gardeners as follows : 
As soon as the soil is in a condition to work, in spring 
the old plants are taken up and separated into single 
stems, with or without roots as the case may be. These 
stems are set one foot apart in rows, and the soil firmly 
pressed about them. Thus ends the work of propaga¬ 
tion. Each, and every one will strike roots, and with 
ordinary cultivation will make plants by October, as 
large as can be got in a six inch pot. If wanted for 
forcing they are taken up, potted, well-watered, and set 
in any convenient, cool, out-of-the-way place, until six 
weeks before the flowers are wanted, then the plants 
are put into a cool greenhouse, and started into growth, 
and they will be in perfection of bloom in the time 
stated. 
It is no less amusing to see how our foreign friends 
propagate Carnations by layering. We see by their 
illustration and description, that cups are formed out 
of lead, which is about the thickness of common brown 
paper, these cups are formed around the stems of the 
plant, the shape of a small funnel, and filled with soil, 
the same as that used for culture in pots. “Threads 
serve to support the cups in position, and a pin thrust 
through helps to secure them and keep the layer in 
position.” When rooted the stems are cut from the 
forced plant and re-potted. This we consider a very 
tedious and slow operation, when we contrast it with 
the American plan, which is to make the cuttings when 
the young growth is from four to six inches long, in the 
following manner—no knife is used in the operation, 
the cuttings are simply pulled out of the sockets at the 
joints, and are put in the propagating bench without 
anything further being done to them; in this manner 
one of our most successful Carnation growers, L. Lieb- 
recht, Esq., Hinsdale, N. Y., will put in, with his own 
hands, 10,000 cuttings per day, and ninety-five per 
cent, of them will root and be ready for potting 
in three weeks from the time the cuttings are 
made. 
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Lygodium Scandens. For decorative purposes this 
plant is rapidly taking the place of Smilax, that has 
for so long a time been considered indispensable. In 
visiting the green-house of W. C.Wilson, Esq., Astoria, 
N. Y.. recently, we saw this beautiful Fern growing 
