The condition next in importance is a smart bottom-heat, of from 80° to 90°, to stimulate the leaves and young wood to the utmost of whatever power they may possess; and the third requirement is a partial shade from the rays of the sun; what follows after that relates entirely to practical management.

Those, therefore, who cannot command these favourable conditions, which are essentially necessary for success, in the case of cuttings, which are difficult to root-conditions, too, which physiology presupposed-cannot possibly succeed with cuttings made on this best model; when they are practically excluded from the advantages of a perfect apparatus for their propagation. Hence it follows, that instead of making our cuttings, under all circumstances, according to the best rules, we ought rather to prepare them according to our means, for their future management-and so reduce their leaves according to the quantity of air which must necessarily reach them where they are set for propagation; and here lies the whole secret of propagation. The proverb of ting according to your cloth," cannot be better illustrated than in the right preparation of cuttings; if we cannot exclude the air from them, we must cut away part of their foliage; and how much ought to be so cut depends on the quantity of air, so to speak, which can reach them, and on the nature of the cutting itself; for there is an immense difference in the constitution of plants with respect to their power of forming roots from cuttings.

cut

Although the art of propagation is as familiar to the great body of gardeners as the process of planting cabbages, there are many good gardeners, and a greater number of expert young men in other branches, who, with the greatest care, make but a sorry hand at increasing plants by this process. When we turn to the practical part of propagation, we meet with more degrees of comparative merit than the grammarians ever dreamed about: good, bad, and indifferent propagators give but a faint idea of how these things are managed, or misma naged. We must, therefore, walk in amongst them, and judge for ourselves from their productions. Here is an honest, hard-working fellow, who knows as much about the philosophy of his operations as I do about the "Milky Way," and yet, by a long course of plodding industry, has acquired the exact manipulation necessary to insure the rooting of all the kinds of cuttings he is required to produce; and his only fault, or rather his misfortune, is that he cannot possibly tell how a new plant ought to be treated beforehand. He must first experiment on it. Now, a little fire-side philosophy would be of immense use to him, and he knows it. But his next door neighbour has too much philosophy, which makes him so confident, that he overlooks the necessity of constant attention, without which no man has ever gained much credit in this line. He not only neglects his cuttings, as any one may see by those withered leaves in his cutting-pots, the gaps in others, and the general mouldiness of many of the rest, but with his bad propagating place, he must needs make all his cuttings in the first style of his art, which, of course, aggravates his misfortunes.

But enough;-the means of commanding success in propagation lie in a small compass: attention to small matters and vigilance are the mainsprings. No matter how many thousands of cuttings one has to attend to, he ought to see every one of them at least once a day, and that as early in the morning as possible. A practised eye will soon run over a thousand cuttings, and detect what is amiss with any of them;

but this can never be done from books; nothing short of actual practice for a short time can enable one to see the symptoms of disease and danger; but all of us may learn to keep our frames, glasses, cutting-pots and cuttings, with mould, sand, and tallies, in a perfectly clean and tidy condition, and when we do, half the battle is won already. The least appearance of mouldiness in any part of a cutting place must be checked as soon as it appears, for of all the dangers incident to a bed of cuttings, this is certainly the one to be most dreaded. And one of the most usual ways of inducing this mouldiness is the use of green wood for making the tallies or number sticks; for every pot must have its own label, if you only rear two pots of any kind of which you possess more than one variety. No sooner is a bit of green or sappy wood subjected to a close damp atmosphere, than it begins to mould at the surface of a pot, and if overlooked but for one day, will assuredly kill some of the cuttings. As soon as a leaf, or part of a leaf, is damped off, or covered with the mould fungus, that leaf or the part must be cut away; and for this part of the business nothing is so good as a pair of long pointed scissors, such as we use for thinning grapes with; and the most slovenly way is to maul over them with the finger and thumb.

Watering Cuttings.-The old receipt of "often, and little at a time," by which so many thousand plants have been destroyed, is still the best to follow with respect to cuttings. They are inserted so shallowly in the pots, that even when they are so far advanced as to have formed a few roots, if a couple of inches at the top is kept moist, it will be more safe than if the whole ball is wetted through. The rule is, that the top of the pots ought not to be dry for many hours at a time; and where many are to be attended to there ought to be a very small pot kept on purpose for them; and the mouth of the spout can hardly be too small for them; but as such a spout is of little use after the cutting season is over, I have found the following plan very useful:-Take a stick, about three or four inches long, and drive it firmly into the spout, but not so as to fill it as if corked; the stick must be flat on two sides, so as to allow a small space on either side to discharge the water-the two currents will meet at the outer end of the stick, and ought then to be as thick as if discharged through a large quill; with this contrivance you can water the smallest pot with ease, and without displacing any of the sand. A small rose-pot would answer the same purpose, but it often happens that only one pot, or one here and there, require water when you go over them; and if the pots are very close together, you can hardly water with a rose without letting some fall on neighbouring pots, whether they want it or not; but with the spout thus reduced you can supply the requisite quantity with the greatest nicety; and the moment the cuttings are done with, the stick may be withdrawn till the next morning; for recollect, the cutting-bed is to be looked over every morning, without exception, and if only one pot out of a score needs water it must have it. And in the afternoon of fine days, as soon as the shading is removed, give a slight watering all over the bed-pots, cuttings, and all; and in dull weather it often happens that this kind of watering may do for a whole week.

Seeds.-Except of the very hardiest annuals, I sow very few seeds for the flower-garden till the first and second weeks in March. But to have Sweet peas for cut flowers from the middle of May till the frost stops them in the autumn, I sow a row now, and a few dozens of pots to be half-forced; another sowing

in the first week of April, and a third about the 20th of May. Intermediate Stocks, to flower from the middle of July, I sow now in peat, and harden them off as soon as they are well up. But I shall go on with both kinds of propagation for a long while yet; meantime, I should like to hear what difficulties you have met with-if you ever attempted propagation, and the exact convenience you possess to strike cuttings, and then I can make my notes accordingly. Never mind about troubling us, only write briefly, and to the point. D. BEATON.

GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW

GARDENING.

CUTTINGS.-Owing to the necessity of having articles written somewhat in advance of the day of publication, it will sometimes happen that those whose departments come pretty near each other may, either during the same week or in the one immediately following, quite unintentionally treat upon the same subject. This is of little consequence so far as the writers are concerned, not one of whom would care a bit if a neighbour was to take a random shot even in one of his choicest preserves-knowing full well that he was at liberty to reciprocate the favour whenever he thought proper. But some readers might fancy it to be no privilege to have much the same identical ideas dished up for two successive weeks, the difference consisting more in the garnishing and fittings than in the solid materials; while others, and perhaps not the most foolish class of the two, would be delighted to find that, with a little difference in the mode of getting up, the chief essentials were so much alike. After writing the article upon propagating by cuttings, I had some conversation with a young lady, who, acting no doubt upon the fact that the sisterhood is a privileged class with the Knights of the Blue Apron, pretty well turned my cranium inside out with her questions upon this subject. Her inquiries chiefly having reference to the mode in which cuttings ought to be made-whether it was necessary always to cut to a node or joint? the processes that took place before roots were emitted? the difference, if any, between cuttings inserted in a deciduous state and those with leaves on them? how the base of the cutting would rot, while roots would be protruded, at times, from the whole of the stem above the soil? how, in the case of cuttings cut at both ends, either end would form roots? &c.; all of which convinced me, that, at the risk of being considered rather green by the grey beards of wisdom, we must at times combine philosophy and simplicity if we would wish both to obtain and retain the sympathies of friends who are zealous, but young in gardening. Some of these matters I thought of noticing more in detail, when THE COTTAGE GARDENER for the 14th arrived, containing Mr. Beaton's article, which supplied several of my omissions; and judg ing it would not be prudent to administer an overdose, even of a good thing, I have, among other matters competing for notice, given the preference to the inquiries of a correspondent respecting the management of Gesnera zebrina, Gesnera elongata, and Begonia argyrostigma, chiefly because the treatment necessary for the first-named has been frequently asked, while it is so accommodating that those possessing a little artificial heat may have it either in stove, greenhouse, or window.

GESNERA ZEBRINA.-Of all the beauties of this family, the present species, a native of Brazil, may

well be considered the gem; not so much on account of its scarlet, yellowish flowers, as owing to the Zebra-like markings and shadings of its thick, soft, velvety leaves. The obtaining of fine flower-spikes is matter of importance; the size and vivid colouring of the leaves are more important still. No wonder, though ladies look on them with admiration, blended at times with a spice of envy, that neither silk nor velvet can be found to match them. Allow your plants to have small, curled, unhealthy leaves, and the less that is said or seen of them the better. The maintaining healthy, high-coloured leaves is, therefore, the principal thing to be considered in their cultivation, and that is just the thing to secure fine spikes of bloom.

They

Our correspondent is quite right in allowing the roots, after they have done flowering, to remain in a state of rest. In that repose they ought to continue for several months before being excited into growth. The pots in which they grew may be turned on their broadsides, and any place with a temperature not much below 45° will do for storing them. therefore take up no room, unless when growing. When you wish to start them, they like a temperature of about 60°; and you may either water the pot in which they formerly grew, or break the ball carefully and take out the scaly tubers, and place them in light soil in shallow pans, there to receive moisture and heat, until they spring, when they may be potted. In general, one good pot of last year will furnish you with tubers for half-a-dozen this season. As they increase so freely by underground stems or tubers, it is hardly worth while resorting to other means, though they propagate freely by leaves. Where successional crops of them are desirable, such as where there is a plant stove, the first of one year should be brought in as the first for the following. When you have only a window or greenhouse to place them in, one crop will generally be enough, one that will produce its flowers in summer and autumn. March and April are good times for starting plants for such a purpose; for flowering in autumn and winter in the stove, May and June will be time enough.

We have spoken of 60° for starting them, though less would do; and in summer, especially when subjected to stove treatment, they will, when starting and growing, be subjected to a much higher temperature without injury. In speaking, therefore, of their growth in a stove, the matters referred to will suit them in any other position.

First. Soil.-Peat earth as the staple, with a fourth-part of equal proportions of the following:turfy-loam, leaf-mould, silver-sand, charcoal, and a little dried cow-dung, over a plentiful drainage.

Second. Pots and potting-We have placed a single tuber in a five-inch pot, and obtained from that a good spike of flowers; have placed a tuber in a four-inch pot, shifted again into one of eight inches, and obtained a splendid main spike, with eight or ten spikelets; or have placed six or nine tubers in a nine or twelve-inch pot, or in a pan half the depth of a pot, and thus obtained a beautiful mass.

Third. Watering.—This should be done with care, until the roots begin to occupy the soil; then liberally, when the flower-stalks appear; weak manurewater several times then will assist them, and not injure the foliage.

Fourth. Steaming.-Avoid as much as possible. Fifth. Syringing.-Never think of, if you can avoid it.

Sixth. Light.-Let the plants be fully exposed, but yet at such a distance from the glass that the rays of

the sun will be diffused before reaching the leaves, otherwise blotches will take place, more especially if any damp should rest upon their upper surface.

Where there is a vinery the plants may be started there, and either bloomed there or in the greenhouse, placing them at first in the warmest end of the latter. The shade of the vines will tend to increase the size of the leaves, at the expense of their colour, if not kept as much as possible in the light.

With the assistance of a dung-bed they may also be successfully forwarded for the greenhouse or window; only, as they grow in the bed, they must be kept at a distance from the glass, no steam allowed to touch them, and air left on night and day, that the leaves on their upper surface may always be dry before the sun shines upon them.

By shutting in a space at the warmest end of a greenhouse, over the heating apparatus, and covering with a hand-light, plants may be obtained towards the end of summer to bloom either in the greenhouse or window. Make all changes of temperature gradual.

A similar system will suit other gesneras, either with scaly or bulbous tubers, but few will require so much attention, so far as moisture and light are concerned.

GESNERA ELONGATA.-This flowers chiefly in winter and spring. When done flowering, cut or prune the plant, and the fresh growth will furnish plenty of bloom when the proper season arrives. It dearly likes heat; in its most dormant state, the temperature should never be below from 45° to 50°. It may be taken as a type (so far as management is concerned) of the shrubby kinds; propagates freely from cuttings.

BEGONIA ARGYROSTIGMA.-A species of easy management, where you can command a temperature of from 45° to 50° in winter.

Soil.-Loam and peat; may either be pruned in, or cut down every year. The white spots on the leaves are its only attraction; the flowers are white, and nowise captivating. In a limited space it is not worth its room. R. FISH.

HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT.

EXOTIC ORCHIDACEAE.

OPERATIONS IN THE ORCHID-HOUSE FOR MARCH.

THE greater part of the orchids will now be beginning to grow. Continue to pot all such, giving plenty of drainage, and increase the heat; give water at the roots, moisture in the air, and frequently syringe. These stimulants to growth must only be applied when the weather is fine; in dull, dark, rainy weather it will be advisable to withhold them in a great measure. In using the syringe, care must be taken that no water lodges in the hearts of the young shoots; should that be observed, the water must either be sucked out with a tin pipe or the plant held upside-down to allow it to run off. If the water is allowed to remain in the hollow of the young leaves it is almost sure to be the death of them, especially at this early season of the year; we always make it a rule, and have practised it ever since we commenced cultivating orchids, to allow them to become dry once a day. Our readers who are orchid growers will be wise to attend to and practise this rule, even in the height of the growing season. If they are kept constantly soppy and wet, depend upon you will lose some of the shoots that ought to grow this year and produce flowers. Give them, when the bulbs are nearly full grown, abundance of water. There is not so much danger then, but, we must repeat it, let them become dry once a day.

Plants in baskets, when dry, must be dipped in the warm tank or cistern: see the 70th number of this volume, page 235, where, in describing the routine work for February, we entered fully into dipping baskets, and at

the same time recommended washing the leaves. If this work has not been done, delay it no longer; the plants must feel uncomfortable, and will become unhealthy with such dusty, dirty skins. Baskets will require dipping at least once a fortnight now, and oftener in summer. The operator will be guided by circumstances: when a basket is taken down and found not to be dry, it must, of course, be hung up again; but this will very seldom be the case. If a basket do not dry in a fortnight the compost in it must be too close, and require stirring and opening.

Phalaenopsis amabilis and P. grandiflora will now be growing both in roots and leaves, and ought to be dipped in the tepid cistern almost every morning. When the day is promising to be fine and sunny, dip them quite over-head (excepting the flowers); on dull or rainy mornings dip them only up to the leaves.

Syringing the blocks, generally, will be more necessary now as the days increase in length, but be careful of the young shoots, that the water does not lodge in them for any length of time; blocks can be easily turned upwards and the water discharged. In their native places these plants grow on branches of trees, hanging downwards, and so the young shoots never suffer from excess of moisture.

Air-This necessary element may now be given in large quantities, and for longer periods, especially to the cooler or Mexican house; care being taken that the air does not blow directly upon the plants, especially at this time of the year. Remember however the Barkerias; they will bear a moderate drought even now. Shade.If shade has not been used hitherto, let it now be placed upon the house to be ready whenever the sun breaks forth upon the plants. We may certainly expect it before the end of the month to be too strong for the leaves of orchids, therefore delay no longer, or your plants may suffer for your procrastination.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS.

TULIPS.-These gay ornaments of the florists' garden will now be peeping out of the ground. The anxious owner will watch them every day to find out which are shewing bloom, and whether that is likely to be bold, strong, and healthy; if all is right in appearance, his great care and attention must be directed to keep them so in reality. Though the tulip in general is a perfectly hardy plant, yet they (the finer varieties) have been so high bred by crossing, that some of them are more tender than the original species; hence arises the necessity of protection, especially in our changeable climate. Some fine afternoon a gentle shower may fall, leaving in the hollow of the rising leaves large drops of clear, pellucid water; a frost may follow, and if the fine tulips are uncovered and exposed to its influence the water left by the shower will freeze, and the effect will be crippled flowers, spotted leaves, and every symptom of disease and destruction to the hopes of the florist winning a first prize. These sad effects may be prevented by protection; a slight covering will suffice, provided it is raised a distance from the plants. Our able friend, Mr. Fish, has sufficiently explained the philosophical effect of covering plants with a stratum of air between the covering and the plants to be protected, therefore we need not enter into it, but refer our readers to his excellent paper on the subject. The only thing that we insist upon is a constant watchfulness in applying the coverings, from this time till at least the middle of April. It may be safe to leave them sometimes, but it is never certain to be so; on that account, when a florist has a valuable stock of tulips, and wishes to keep them in perfect health and bloom them to the greatest perfection, we advise him by all means to cover up securely every night till the time we mentioned above. By that time it will be necessary to place over the shading canvass to protect the opening blooms. Should the surface of the soil appear baked or beaten hard with the rain, let it be stirred with a small short three-pronged fork; this will refresh them greatly. T. APPLEBY.

THE KITCHEN-GARDEN.

ASPARAGUS BEDS or plantations, not already sur face forked, should be attended to at the earliest favourable opportunity; and the soil should be handscarified, in order to get it in a well pulverized condition, without which the young shoots will not only be longer finding their way through the surface soil, but may also, in consequence, grow crippled and crooked. In showery weather sow broadcast, in quantities, little and often, some common salt. This recommendation also applies to the ground which may be preparing for new plantations. Some years ago it was customary, at this season, to commence the casing or earthing-up of the asparagus beds (as they were then termed) to a considerable depth. The asparagus in those days being generally planted in four-feet beds, three or four rows of plants in a bed, and an alley between each from two to three feet wide, with a stake at each corner not only to mark the boundary, but also as a guide by which to cut out the allies at this earthing-up season. The beds were thus laid up high and dry by such practice. The shoots that found their way through such a mass of surface-earth could be cut long, and blanched, though the plants were at the same time, in a dry season, much punished and exhausted; and the beds, at the time they were expected to be the most productive, were often found to have given way-subject only to blight and disease.

As the planting season is now fast approaching, it may not be amiss to state our own system and success in the culture of asparagus for many years past. In the first place, we choose out our ground in winter, to be well trenched into ridges, applying at the same time a liberal quantity of manure, if it can be af forded; but this is not of so much consequence at the trenching time as is the thorough performance of the latter operation. And every suitable occasion should be taken between the well trenching of the soil and the planting season to well fork, scarify, and expose the soil as much as possible to the influence of the sun, wind, and frost; at the same time, if it is possible to commaud it, strew salt, little and often, over the ground, and apply manure of the best quality pretty liberally as well.

Asparagus is a most wholesome vegetable, and is well appreciated by all who have been fortunate enough to obtain it of first-rate quality; to produce which in abundance a good preparation is of course necessary. The soil must be selected of the best kind, and thorough drainage secured. The ground must be thoroughly trenched and subsoiled, abundance of manure methodically applied, and the whole well incorporated together by often forking and turning-not when wet weather prevails, but on dry or frosty days. And, instead of planting four rows on a four-feet bed (if plants are not required for forcing every year), plant in rows on the surface of the soil, four feet apart, and one foot from plant to plant. Hoe and scarify the earth's surface frequently throughout the summer and favourable part of the year, adding every season a good portion of salt and other stimulants, and the amount of production from a few rows of plants will be found astonishing. If a quantity is required yearly for forcing, plant two feet apart from row to row, to stand for two years, when every alternate row should be taken as required; at the same time the young plantation should not be planted till the plants in the seed-bed have made shoots from one to four inches long, which is generally from the middle of March to the middle

of April, taking the variation of the different parts of the country.

The forced asparagus will require at this season to be pretty liberally supplied with tepid water and liquid manure, with salt added; and also to be well aired, and lightly covered.

CAPSICUMS AND CHILLIES should now be sown in heat, and the plants, as soon as up, pricked into pans or pots; one inch apart, and placed close to the glass to prevent their drawing up weakly.

DWARF KIDNEY BEANS may now be sown, or first raised and transplanted to great advantage on wellprepared hotbeds, with the surface covered to the depth of eight inches, or thereabouts, with old cucumber or melon soil. The asparagus forcing-beds, when cutting is over, are in this way generally turned to much account with us. We add a small quantity of well-wrought fermenting materials, forking over and well incorporating it altogether, whereby a kindly heat is at once secured; and we take care that about 1 foot or 15 inches space is secured for the beans to make their growth in, when the bed has finished sinking between the surface of the soil and the glass, if the preparation is made under frames, which may also, at any time, be raised as required. Immense crops of beans may thus be obtained at a season when there is not much choice of the superior kinds of out-of-door vegetables. A good crop of beans may thus be taken, and the frame or pit may be afterwards cleared, in due season, to insure a good summer crop of melons or cucumbers. If common frames and lights are used, they may be lifted off altogether in May, when the weather has become mild, and the beans protected slightly with hoops and mats, or any other temporary covering.

Our

POTATOES.-The present is also a good season for placing a quantity of early ash-leaved, or early frame potatoes, on a little old tan or leaf-mould inside the front part of cucumber or melon structures, or any other place which has the command of a good bottomheat, to sprout or shoot in readiness for transplanting under temporary coverings, on a slight hotbed. We get, by such management, very fine crops of early potatoes to succeed the first frame-grown ones. system is to choose our ground where Brussels sprouts, savoys, or the early kinds of brocolies have been taken. We mark out a five-feet bed, cast out a trench one foot deep, right and left; place into this trench any kind of available refuse we may have at hand, and a small portion of fermenting materials, as much as can be spared. We then immediately cast back over again about six inches of the soil, to transplant the potatoes in, and the rest is formed round as sheltering banks for protection from the wind, on which a turf scantling, rough boards, or poles are placed, so as to carry across pieces of other poles or stakes, to keep up the temporary covering from the growing potatoes at night. When the crop of potatoes from this same preparation is taken up, the ground is in good condition for planting at once a crop of celery, French beans, or cauliflowers.

Surface stirring generally, on all occasions, and amongst all kinds of crops, must be well attended to; and the ground intended for onions, parsnips, and carrots be kept constantly forked and scarified, so as to insure its being well pulverized.

JAMES BARNES.