The Garden.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 187, 8 February 1878, Page 7

The Garden.

PRESERVING BOOTS AND BULBS. Dahlias are easily kept through the winter, if only proper care be taken. As soon as the stalks are killed by white frost, they should be cut down to within three inches of the groubd, and a mound of earth raised over tire stubs to cover them. They may thus remain to ripen, or until there is danger of frost sufficient to freeze the surface of the ground. Select a dry day for lifting them. Dry them thoroughly in the nir, and pack in dry sand, and place them in a cool closet'where frost never reaches, or in a warm and dry cellar. Thus they may be safely kept without danger of damping off —that is decaying- at the crowns. Gladiolus bulb's may be left in the ground until there is danger of pretty hard frosts. The.n they should be lifted, dried, and preserved in dry sand, or each bulb wrapped in paper and kept dry, as recommended for dahlias. The bulb of young tuberoses, dpsigned tor planting next season, are saved as are gladiolus, except that they should be taken up before they become chilled in rhe ground. Canna, and other roots of like nature should be taken up, dried and kept in dry sand in the cellar where they will not freeze. Geraniums should be heeled in a light cellar, in dry earth, and kept dry and entirely free from frosb. Tender roses are preserved by planting in pits, or a light cellar, where they will not freeze severely. They need not be taken from the beds until about the time that hard freezing- occurs. Carnation pinks from seed, intended for blooming next year, must be protected from severe frost by covering. This may be done by placing a frame about, them, banking up with earth, and covering with litter to secure from frost. Panties should be protracted as advised for pinks. They will stand considerable freezing.

HOW TO ROOT CUTTINGS.

"Mr Charles H. Shim, in the Pacific Rural Press, gives some common sense information about rooting cuttings. He says : — A cutting is a piece of a plant severed and placed under the proper conditions to form roots' on its own responsibility. Fortunately plants which do not seed will propagate readily from cuttings, and this has become one of the leading methods in the treatment of whole classes of plants. Not alone the commercial florist, but also every one who loves flowers, and has a garden, or even a few window plants, has occasion to "start slips.'.'. There are people in the world, plenty of them— aud good people too — who never have any success with cuttings. Every spring they beset all their neighbours, and carry home armsful of trimmings, which are buried in haphazard fashion. Sometimes a few grow, but usually hope departs as summer advances, and the despairing amateur sighs, " I never did have any luck with slips " To precisely such people a few hints may be of advantage,

Cutting's are of three kinds ; leaf, root, and stem ; Leaf cutting's aretlie most curious, and few plants, comparatively, have this power. The echeverias, cacti, and somes other succulents strike root rapidly from leaves.- The larg-e---ieafed begonias are .easily rooted in this way.; Cut ; niedium sized, leaves with about half -ai* inch of the stalk ; sink

this in fine sand, letting the leaf lie on the top. It it will not; lie evenly peg it carefully down. If leaves are scarce, the leading mid-ribs may be slashed across, and roots will start from each place, thus making a dozen plants from one leaf. It is advisable to lay a pane of glass over the box.

Some plants have roots which are covered with latent buds. Of this class are the bonvardias, calycanthus, Japan quince, anemone, japonica, &c. The loots of all such plants may be cut into pieces half an inch long, sown in sand and covered one-eighth of an inch deep. The majority of cuttings, however, are taken from part of the stem. Almost all plants will grow from cuttings of the young wood, and some from very small pieces, much smaller than people usually take. lam writing now for the thousands who have few facilities, but [ who wish to keep a little garden, or perhaps increase a choice window plant, rather than for the florist, to whom much of this is a twice-told tale. i Whenever the young of a shoot is i^ a brittle, growing condition and will snap when bent in the hand, it is fie for a cutting. If it is allowed to get further advanced and woody, it is more difficult to root, find if in the blooming stage almost impossible, as a rule, although I have seen many choice plants raised from , the small side branches found in bouquets. It will usually be found that a *horc piece of tender wood is best.

Now, as regards the special conditions of heat and moisture. Florists like to have a bottom heat of 65 degrees and an atmosphere heat of 50 degrees, but geraniums, fuchsias, pelargoniums, carnations, heliotropes, nasturtiums, verbenas, petunias, dahlias, and a huge class of similar things do very well without any bottom heat. Pure fine sand kept moist is the best thing to start cuttings. Vei"y .short piece puc in a saucer of sand, set on the window bill, and kept moist, will often root very rapidly. Charcoal kept moist is good for diosma and hard-wooded shrubs to root in. Remember, first, that cuttings of whatever you please, like company — put them in close, so that they almost touch, and fewer will fail than if they were wide apart. Second, that a cutting is not past hope until it. is 'dead, crisp and sapless. Never be in a hurry to give up. I have known olive cuttings to reman in the ground three } r ears before showing any signs'of life ; roses often are dormant for months; cuttings of deciduous plants generally reqnire patience.

In placing- cutting's in the sand, cutting box, saucer or pot, great care must be taken to pack the sand closely around the cuttings and in particular, against the lower end, where the root is most Jikely to form. A steadypressure must be given, not a quick blow, for too much force will drive the fine sand into the bark of the cutting, thus causing it to rot. Judicious packing has a great deal to do with success. Cuttings of plants that lose their leaves in the winter should be taken early, before the buds start. In our climate, California, the early winter is the best- time to begin this work. If boxes of sand are packed full of cuttings, set in the rain and carefully, watered .through any dry spell, the per centage rooted by spring will astonish the novice. It is the easiest thing imaginable to take a few cuttings when you are trimmino' your shrubs in the full, and set them in groups of three or five, where you can let them remain. At least one- is pretty sure to start and the others ''may he thrown away. In this way anything once procured can be easily kept" in 'the garden. Clianthus, deutzia, cestrum, snowball, wigelia, spirea, lemon verbena, euonymus, golden bell (halesia), and numerous others are readily rooted by this grouping system.

In conclusion, I have known ladies" whose tact and thoughtful ness were such as I verily believe they could root cutting's with ashes and a thimble, and patiently proceed to evolve bloom and fragrance from a barren waste. 1 have known other would-be cultivators to whom the best appliances and acres of greenhouse would be useless luxuries, who would conk their cutting's with too much bottom heat, wilt them with sunlight, rot them with over- moisture, carelesslyravageand forgetfully destroy. Crystalised flowers. — A simple method of covering fresh flowers with alum crystallisation. It is as follows : — Make baskflts of pliable copper wire, and wrap them with gauze. Into these tie to the bottom violets, ferns, geranium leaves, chrysanthemums — in fact, any flowers except full-blown roses, and sink them in a solution of alum of one pound to tbe gallon of water, after the solution has cooled, as their colours will then be preserved in their original beauty, and the crystalissd alum will hold faster than when from a hot solution. When you have a light covering distinct crystals that cover completely the articles, remove carefully, and allow them to drain for 12 hours.: In all systems of manuring one fact should be borne in mind, that manure -should be placed in as close proximity as possible to the plants it is to nniirish, since in all cases of decomposition the disengaged substance enters icto new combinations at the very- instant it is thrown off", much more rapidly ; than itdoes at any subsequent period;—,Mas-sachussette-Ploughman;