AUTUMN PROPAGATION-WINTER TREATMENT. 39

I generally propagate in autumn from eight to ten thousand, and, by pursuing the treatment I am about to describe, with uniform success, in both rooting and wintering them. With regard to the time of taking cuttings, their size, and preparation, the same rules are followed as in the case of Zonales-namely, they are taken early in August, selected of large size; and great care is taken that, in collecting, making, and putting them in, they are not bruised.

After trying various ways of striking and wintering them, I give the preference to 8-inch pots over either large pans or boxes. The pots are thoroughly cleansed outside and inside. They are drained with 2 inches of rather finely-broken crocks, over which is placed a layer of rough dry mushroom dung about an inch deep. Then follows about 2 inches of rich soil, consisting of one part loam, one part finely-sifted rotten dung, and about a fifth of the whole of sand; and the pots are filled up firmly with loam, leaf-mould, and sand, in equal proportions. The whole is mixed thoroughly by being passed through a half-inch sieve before the pots are filled up. The number of cuttings put into each pot varies from fifteen to eighteen, according to the habit of the sorts; and great care is exercised in dibbling them in with a large dibble, so as not to bruise them. As soon as the pots are filled with cuttings they are placed in cold frames or pits, on a dry bottom, and watered sufficiently to wet the whole soil. The lights are then put on, and raised entirely off the frame at back and front, so as to cause a free circulation of air about the cuttings. The only object in putting glass over them at all is to prevent them from getting rain when they are sufficiently moist without it, and to keep them from the influence of night

dews. Except for this, they would be quite as well without the glass. The warmer and more exposed to the sun the better, provided they are exposed to a circulation of air. Shade is never applied. In watering them, the object is to keep them moderately and uniformly moist. Excess causes them to damp off, and too little to shrivel. Careless watering-erring in either extreme-is their greatest enemy. In a month they are generally rooted; and though they will then bear a greater supply of water, it should only be slightly increased, as stiff hardy cuttings are more the object desired than larger and watery ones.

The

From the day the cuttings are put in, cleanliness must be attended to that is, every leaf that turns yellow should be removed, and not allowed to drop on to the surface of the soil to breed decay. frames should not be shut up by night or day, for stagnant air and shade increase any tendency there may be to damping-off. In cold damp localities I would advise that, instead of placing them in low cold frames to strike, they be put into some dry airy house or elevated pit, where they can have a dry warm bottom, and full exposure to light and air.

I have always found that variegated Pelargoniums strike better, and can be wintered with less loss, in 8-inch pots, than when put into large pans or boxes. During the time they are rootless the soil is easier kept in a proper state of moisture than in smaller pots, and is less subject to excess of moisture than in large pans or boxes; and when placed in their winter quarters in small round clusters, they get a free play of air about them, which diminishes the tendency to damping.

Should the early part of October be wet or dull, and damp appear to affect them, they are removed to the front and back shelves of early vineries and peachhouses, where they get all the light and air to which these houses are then exposed. Till the middle of November sufficient water is given them to prevent their drooping, and after that date I have known them go for two months without a drop of water. Every decaying leaf should be removed as it appears; and, managed in this way, the percentage of loss is trifling compared to what takes place when they are struck in close frames, and wintered on a damp cold bottom far from the glass.

When such varieties as Mrs. Pollock, Golden Chain, Queen of Queens, and other tender sorts, show any signs of distress in the short damp days of midwinter, they should, if possible, be removed to a warmer temperature than that of a cool vinery or greenhouse. Still, even these varieties, when large cuttings are struck early, give very little trouble, and winter perfectly well in a cool dry house, when small cuttings, struck later in the season, would succumb.

Spring Treatment of Autumn-struck Cuttings.—As vineries and peach-houses are started, and any other accommodation in warm temperatures can be made available in the spring months, the cuttings are carefully shaken out of their store-pots, potted up singly, and placed in heat generally ranging from 55° to 70°, according to circumstances; 60° is an excellent temperature for starting them. The smallest cuttings and slowest-growing varieties are potted first, and vice versa. In the matter of pots and soil the same treatment as is applicable to Zonale Pelargoniums answers for varie

gated varieties. If any difference be made, it should be to have the soil fully richer and the pots a size smaller for the variegated sorts, especially the slowergrowing varieties. They should not be allowed to remain in vineries and peach-houses till the foliage of the vines closes over them, otherwise they soon suffer from the absence of light. When removed from such houses, it is most desirable that the quarters for hardening them off should be dry and light, with glass over them. In many cases this is most difficult to provide, from the limited amount of glass, and the many things demanding careful treatment in spring.

In the case of amateurs and others who may not have room in heat into which to put them when potted singly, many of the strongest varieties do tolerably well by being kept in the cutting-pots till they are planted out. When such a course has to be pursued, they should not be so thickly inserted in the cuttingpots in autumn. Bijou, Flower of Spring, and others of a similar free habit, succeed in this way, provided the beds are free and rich. On the other hand, where the amount of glass is sufficient, consisting of such structures as those from which frost is being excluded, but without heat sufficient for potting off tender varieties early in spring, I would advise that the potting-off be accomplished in autumn, so that the plants may be well established before the dead of winter, or else deferred till the end of March, when there is more natural warmth. They are, however, greatly improved by a few weeks in heat after they are potted-off in spring.

Spring Propagation.-Variegated Pelargoniums can be as easily increased in spring as the other sorts. The

plants from which the cuttings are to be taken, whether young autumn-struck or older-lifted plants, should be excited into fresh growth in heat for a few weeks before the cuttings are taken from them. If put into heat early in February, they are generally in a nice condition for propagating about the second week of March, which is an excellent time for striking. Cuttings taken from plants while they are in a dormant state earlier in the season, I have not found to do so well; besides, the old plants break more freely when they are cut back after their roots have become active.

Bottom heat is They root very

For striking I generally use 8-inch pots prepared exactly as directed for spring propagation in the case of Zonales, except that the pots are drained a little more, and the top layer of soil into which the cuttings are put is made a little more sandy. In taking off the cuttings, all crushing or bruising of either stems or leaves should be carefully avoided. not necessary, although desirable. freely in any house or pit where the temperature ranges from 65° to 70°, where there is not much steaming or moisture, and where they can be placed within a few feet of the glass, and slightly shaded during a few hours in the brightest part of sunny days. The two extremes in watering must now be even more strenuously avoided than in autumn - striking; for variegated Pelargoniums, though impatient of much moisture before they are rooted, are equally impatient of the other extreme. Water should be applied from the spout of a small pot without wetting the leaves. The whole of the golden and silver varieties root very freely, managed in this way; and by being potted off before the roots get more than an inch long and