The Garden Under Glass

THE BEST FLOWERING PLANTS 59 or “ bush ” plants. In the latter section are included the singles. As large plants are out of place in a small greenhouse, and presumably few of my readers possess a large con-servatory, I will here give priority of place to the decorative and single section. In order to get well-grown plants with abundance of bioom, propagation should be commenced early. For the speedy and successful rooting of cuttings a small portable frame will be put up in a cool greenhouse early in December. A moist bed of well-weathered coal ashes sifted through a quarter-inch sieve will form the best bottom, and loose sheets of glass, which may be reversed several times a day to disperse the moisture accumulating on the inner surface, the best covering. I strongly advise a good soil in which to strike the cuttings as making success morecertain. Many failures may be traced to the use of old potting bench soil which probably has rank manure, Chemical manure, or too much humus in it. Loam sifted through a quarter-inch sieve, mixed with an equal quantity of leaf-soil similarly treated and half the amount of clean silversand, will form a splendid compost. As far as possible a careful selection of cuttings should be made, avoiding all which come from the stem of the plant, all which have buds on them, all which are mal-formed and such as are thin and drawn or far too fat and sappy. Such as spring from the base of the plant beneath the soil-—suckers, in faet-—these are the kind of cuttings to choose. The two chief reasons for failure to root them are that rnany do not get the base of the cutting to rest firmly on e bottom of the hole made by the dibber, or do not make e soil firm about the cutting. When inserted firmly at the rate of five or six in a 3-inch pot they will need a good watering, and after the surplus water has been