May  26,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
445 
but  in  doing  this  we  are  also  shortening  its  duration  of  flower¬ 
ing.  Remove  all  lateral  shoots  from  the  stem,  and  where  not 
required  for  propagating  purposes  all  lateral  shoots  from  the 
bottom  are  better  cut  away,  leaving  one  spike  only  to  each 
plant.  Continue  the  watering  even  whilst  in  bloom,  should  the 
weather  remain  dry,  as  this  will  enable  the  uppermost  buds  to 
open  into  good  flowers,  and  then  produce  a  handsome  spike  of 
three  or  more  feet  of  flower  length. 
Definition  of  an  Ideal  Spike. 
Perhaps  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  give  the  defini¬ 
tion  of  an  ideal  spike  as  set  forth  by  the  late  Mr.  W.  Chater 
in  one  of  his  old  catalogues.  “  In  judging,  the  first  point  I 
notice  is  the  individual  flower  on  the  spike,  the  petals  of  which 
consist  in  their  being  of  a  thick  substance,  the  edges  smooth 
and  even ;  the  florets  occupying  the  centre  must  he  full  and  com¬ 
pact,  closely  arranged,  rising  high  in  the  middle,  and  of  a 
globular  form,  with  a  stiff  guard  petal  extending  about  half  an 
inch,  or  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  centre  ball,  so  that  the 
different  parts  of  the  flower  present  a  uniform  appearance. 
Second,  the  arrangement  of  the  flower  on  the  spike  should  be 
regular,  not  crowded  together  in  a  confused  mass,  nor  loosely 
hanging  with  oiien  spaces  between  each  flower,  but  so  disposed 
that  the  shape  of  each  may  be  distinctly  seen  when  fully  blown, 
the  uppermost  covering  the  top  ;  nothing  can  add  more  to  its 
beauty  than  a  few  small  green  leaves,  which  give  it  an  elegant 
and  graceful  appearance.” 
The  plants,  having  finished  blooming,  may  be  cut  down,  and 
if  intended  to  flower  a  second  year  they  will  need  protectiop 
during  the  winter,  so  that  rain  or  snow  can  find  no  lodgment 
at  the  crown,  as,  if  it  do  so,  the  plant  will  rot  away ;  a  covering 
of  bracken  or  short  stable  litter  is  a  very  good  protection.  If 
the  soil  is  wet  or  of  a  heavy  retentive  nature,  it  would  be 
advisable  to  remove  the  plants,  say  to  the  foot  of  a  south  wail, 
protecting  them  in  severe  weather  with  a  light  covering  of 
litter,  for  although  the  unbloonied  seedlings  are  perfectly  hardy, 
the  bloomed  plants  need  this  extra  care  and  attention.  They 
may  be  replanted  by  the  end  of  March,  and  treated  exactly  as 
recommended  for  the  unbloomed  plants,  but  will  require  their 
shoots  thinning  out  when  of  sufficient  size. 
Cuttings  and  Grafts. 
Should  any  extra  fine  specimens  be  obtained  from  seed,  and 
it  is  desired  to  perpetuate  them,  the  propagation  by  cuttings  or 
grafts  must  be  resorted  to,  in  which  case  the  bottom  of  the  side 
laterals  must  be  allowed  to  remain,  sinijily  shortening  them  back 
a  few  inches  in  order  to  allow  the  buds  at  the  base  to  develop. 
These  will  produce  the  summer  cuttings.  Each  shoot  should  be 
cut  up  into  lengths  of  about  4in,  cutting  each  immediately  below 
a  bud,  and  allowing  the  leaf-stalks  to  remain.  Place  the  cut¬ 
tings  in  a  smoothly  prepared  bed  in  the  open  ground,  leaving  a 
portion  of  both  the  leaf-stalk  and  stem  above  the  surface ;  in 
fact  similar  to  the  propagation  of  Vines  from  eyes.  Sprinkle 
the  cuttings  over  wuth  water  should  the  weather  come  dry. 
They  will  start  to  root  in  a  very  short  space  of  time,  and  when 
sufficiently  rooted  they  should  be  carefully  lifted  and  potted  in 
54-size  pots.  The  Hollyhock  strikes  root  very  readily  in  this 
manner,  and  may  be  propagated  in  very  large  numbers,  but  the 
difficulty  is  to  preserve  them  during  the  winter.  I  have  known 
plants,  which  appeared  strong  and  healthy  in  every  way,  die 
off  unaccountably  by  the  thousand  in  the  winter  prior*’ to  the 
fungus  making  its  appearance.  A  light,  airy,  cool  greenhouse 
seems  to  be  the  most  suitable  shelter. 
Another  plan  of  propagating  is  from  cuttings  or  grafts  under 
glass  in  the  spring.  Plants  intended  for  this  purpose  should 
have  all  their  growth  removed  at  the  end  of  -the  flowering 
season,  leaving  only  the  eyes,  or  dormant  buds,  which  will  fur¬ 
nish  the  spring  cuttings.  Remove  a  portion  of  the  soil  from 
the  main  stem  with  a  trowel  to  the  depth  of  2in,  and  about  9in 
from  the  main  .stem ;  mound  the  roots  well  up,  covering  all  the 
eyes  over  with  cocoa-nut  fibre,  or  some  other  similar  material, 
and  see  that  every  particle  of  the  stem  where  there  is  a  bud 
is  well  protected.  This  covering  is  a  means  for  protecting  the 
eyes,  which  will  produce  the  future  cuttings,  against  the  disease, 
since  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  at  this  season  of  the  year 
is  highly  favourable  to  its  development.  By  the  end  of  October, 
lift  the  plants  carefully,  shorten  back  their  longest  roots,  pot 
them  into  16-size  pots,  plunge  the  pots  outside  in  a  bed  of  cinder 
ashes,  and  protect  their  stems  and  buds  as  previously  recom¬ 
mended.  They  may  remain  thus  until  about  the  first  w^eek  in 
January,  when  they  should  be  placed  in  a  moderately  warm 
greenhouse,  near  to  the  glass,  admitting  air  on  all  favourable 
occasions,  and  of  course  removing  the  cocoa-nut  fibre. 
Growth  will  commence  in  a  very  short  time.  Take  off  the 
cuttings  and  plant  in  small  pots  in  the  same  way  as  with 
Dahlias,  and  place  the  cuttings  in  a  close  frame  for  about  three 
weeks  or  a  month,  admitting  air  at  night  in  order  to  avoid  their 
fogging  off.  They  can  then  be  introduced  to  a  gentle  bottom 
heat,  and  when  sufficiently  rooted,  gradually  harden  them  off 
in  a  cool  frame  or  house,  shifting  them  into  larger-sized  pots, 
ready  for  planting  out  in  theiir  flowering  quarters  in  March  or 
April.  When  propagating  by  graft,  select  well-ripened  roots 
of  single  varieties ;  or,  if  single  ones  are  not  procurable,  por¬ 
tions  of  the  roots  of  old  double  ones,  and  cut  them  into  lengths 
of  about  4in.  The  system  generally  adopted  is  that  of  whip¬ 
grafting  ;  treat  these  exactly  as  recommended  for  the  cuttings. 
There  is  yet  another  system  by  which  they  may  be  pro¬ 
pagated.  This  is  by  budding  in  the  summer  on  to  the  roots  of 
single  varieties.  Select  well-ripened  side  shoots  of  the  summer 
growth,  as  advised  for  the  summer  propagation,  and  insert  them 
in  the  root  close  to  the  neck  of  the  stock,  similar  to  the-  budding 
of  dwarf  Roses  on  the  seedling  Briar. 
In  propagating  under  glass  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
there  must  be  no  suspicion  of  disease  (Puccinia  malvacearum), 
since  the  somewhat  close  and  damp  atmosphere  of  a  greenhouse 
is  a  most  suitable  breeding  ground  for  its  development,  and 
when  plants  are  once  attacked  it  is  very  difficult  indeed  to 
Urceolina  pendula.  (See  note.) 
eradicate  it ;  hence  the  raising  of  seedlings  under  glass  for 
flowering  the  following  summer  is  not  recoinmended. 
There  is  another  form  of  disease  peculiar  to  Hollyhocks, 
which  wrought  great  havoc  amongst  them  in  past  years,  and 
w'hen  prevalent  was  more  destructive  even  than  the  Puccinia 
of  modern  times,  since  it  did  not  attack  its  victim  until  the 
plant  was  just  coming  into  flower,  and  in  some  instances  until 
actually  in  full  bloom,  and  then  the  whole  plant  would  wither 
and  die  in  a  few  hours,  which  was  considered  at  that  time  very 
mysterious,  and  to  which  no  apparent  cause  could  be  attributed, 
the  plants  to  all  appearance  being  perfectly  healthy  during  the 
evening,  and  by  the  morning  completely  withered  up. 
The  late  Mr.  W.  Chater  attributed  it  to  their  being  planted 
in  new  soil  freshly  broken  up.  I  have  not  seen  this  disease  for 
years ;  in  fact,  practically  nothing  of  it  has  been  discerned  since 
the  competitive  times ;  hence  I  think  we  may  be  safe  in  assuming 
it  had  its  origin  from  overfeeding  with  undecomposed  manure 
and  other  gross  materials  in  order  to  obtain  extra  large  blooms 
for  exhibition  purposes,  which  no  doubt  brought  about  a  disease 
at  the  root,  as  no  trace  of  any  form  of  disease  was  to  be  seen 
either  on  leaf  or  stem. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
