236 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
my purpose here, and to do so we must start at the be¬ 
ginning—propagation. This is best done in January or 
February. Select goQd, sound, strong cuttings; those 
just below where a bud has recently been cut are the best. 
Put them in a bed of sand where the top temperature 
can be kept at about 56° at night and 65° to 70° during 
the day; it is best to shade very lightly during the middle 
of the day, if exposed to a bright sun. Keep the cut¬ 
tings moistened with a hand syringe at least twice a day. 
As soon as they are rooted pot off into 2 y 2 or 3 inch 
pots, using good fibrous loam five parts, well-rotted cow 
manure one part and sharp sand half a part if the soil is 
heavy ; mix thoroughly and rub through a screen of half 
an inch mesh ; pot firmly, but not so hard as to break the 
young tender roots, place in a greenhouse where the tem¬ 
perature does not exceed 56° at night or fall below 50° 
with a rise in the day during bright sun to 75 0 , with 
plenty of air; do not shade but water sparingly and on 
bright days take a hand syringe with a fine spray on and 
give them a gentle sprinkling all over, taking care at all 
times to avoid extremes, either dry as dust or wet as 
mud is very injurious to their well-being. They need 
constant care and watching and they will well repay any 
extra care in the better growth they make. 
In about five or six weeks from first potting they will 
be ready to shift into YA or 5 inch pots. This time the 
pots should be drained, or “crocked” — a gardener’s 
term. This is best done by taking a piece of broken pot, 
nearly as large as the bottom of the one to be used, and 
placing it over the hole with the round side upward; 
then cover this about one inch deep with pieces of soft 
broken brick or potsherds, half an inch square, with a 
little finer on top , then repot the plants from the smaller 
pots into these using the same kind of compost as for 
the first potting. Let the soil in the pots be in a nice 
moist condition before repotting, then they take much more 
kindly to the new soil. Avoid having the ball of earth dry 
as in that case it takes a long time to get it soaked in the 
new soil, and often a plant gets a bad check from this 
cause. On the other hand, if it’s too wet (mud) it will 
press into a mass, and if at some future time the plant 
gets dry it will form a hard mass like a brick. When 
potted, return the plants to the best position in the green¬ 
house, keep as near the glass as consistent, and maintain 
the same temperatures as given above for the night; but 
as the days lengthen the temperature can be allowed to 
run up to 8o° and do no harm, if plenty of air is given. 
This, of course, is taking from the first of April onward. 
Treat the plants the same as directed for first potting. 
As soon as thoroughly established—say, in four or five 
weeks—they will be ready to shift again. Use 6 or 7 
inch pots this time, and treat exactly as for the last shift, 
except that the soil need not be quite so fine. 
This, under ordinary circumstances, ought to be by the 
20th of May. Treat the plants in the same way as be¬ 
fore directed till the hot weather sets in (in the Middle 
Atlantic States generally from the 10th to the 20th of 
June), then place them outside in open air on a good bed 
of coal ashes. If to be cultivated altogether in pots, they 
can remain there till September or till the nights begin 
to get cool. They should be shifted into larger pots, as 
required, using at each shifting pots from one to two 
inches larger, according to the strength of the plants; 
plunge the pots to the rim in coal ashes, or any light 
material that will admit water to drain away readily; 
water whenever they get dry at the root, syringe fre¬ 
quently to keep down red spiders, &c. By the time they 
are ready to get into the greenhouse, in the fall, they 
ought to be two or three feet high and proportionately 
thick through. 
But if to be planted out in beds or benches, then the 
plants need not be put in larger pots than five or six in¬ 
ches at most. 
About the end of June prepare the benches, &c., by 
having them well drained ; this is best done by having a 
green sod cut very thin and placed grass side down over 
the cracks or openings between the boards, then fill the 
bench level full of compost, made in the same propor¬ 
tion as before described, but do not screen it for this, only 
break up the coarse parts reasonably fine with a fork or 
spade; set your plants from fifteen to eighteen inches 
apart, according to the varieties, press the soil firmly all 
over, and water as required. Syringe twice a day during 
hot weather, and as soon as the plants start to grow fairly 
give a very light mulching of fine manure to prevent rapid 
evaporation, keep the plants clean and the soil free from 
weeds, &c.; during fine weather give all the air possible 
from the ridge of the house, but receive none at the front 
if you can avoid it. As soon as the nights begin to get 
cooler than 56° stop syringing in the afternoon, and en¬ 
deavor to have a fairly dry atmospher^ during the night 
after this date for the balance of the season. 
The temperature as given above for young plants is 
good for the larger plants for all the winter months, and 
if really fine roses are the desideratum of the grower, they 
should be adhered to as nearly as possible. 
By the first of October the plants so treated should have 
a good mulching of well rotted cow manure twenty parts, 
and one part of fine ground bone absolutely pure. Spread 
this mixture over the beds and benches from one to one 
and a half inches thick. 
For pot-plants a somewhat richer mulching is bone; 
one part bone to fifteen parts manure is not too much. 
The plants should be housed by the middle of September 
and treated in all respects the same as for beds, excepting 
that they will require a little more attention in the way of 
water. 
Manure in a liquid form I have never found to be any 
benefit to young plants till after the turn of the days, say, 
1 st of February, when it should be given only sparingly, 
for the plant will not take it in large quantities ; as the 
plants get older they will take more in proportion. Any 
good manure is useful for making it. Fresh cow drop¬ 
pings, one peck to fifty gallons of water, thoroughly dis¬ 
solved, and let stand till clear before using, is good. Let 
the plants be fairly dry before applying it. Sheep and 
chicken manure are also excellent for the same purpose, 
but must be used in much less proportions, say, three- 
fourths less than cow manure. Guano and blood manures 
are also good by way of change, for plants of nearly all 
descriptions, particularly roses under artificial cultivation, 
are greatly benefited with a change of food after the 
