.í
Ít I.
ta) 1
with the rotted vegetables, moss earth, and stable-yard clung, in such proportions as is likely to ensure a
moderate tormentation, which is generally completed in three or I'our weeks ; a t which time, I think, it
is most advantageously applied, in having it carried to the ground, and instantly dug in .” (M em . Caled.
I lo r í. S o c .,v o \.'\. p. 443.)
2407. L iq u id manures are liighly approved of by many cultivators, and especially by
Knight. They arc formed by infusing rich dungs, as tbosc of fowls, sheep, ])igs, &c., or
blood, in three or four times tbeir bulk of water ; and tlic application of the extract so
procured is made at tbe usual seasons of watering, taking care to apply it only to the
roots. (H o rt. T ra n s ., vol. ii. p. 127.) For some plants, as tbe pine, vine, cauliflower,
cucumber, and others which gardeners consider as gross feeders, liquid manures may be
given during thcir full vigour of growth ; but tbe practice is very dangerous, if applied
to culinary or fruit-bearing plants in general, as producing too much excitement.
G uano is generally nsed for gardens in the shape of liquid manure ; tlie proportion
being four ounces to a gallon of water for plants in the open gi'ound ; and only half an
ounce to a gallon for plants in pots. It is a highly stimulating manure, and very dangerous
wlicn given too strong.
2408. Collecting and fo rm in g composts f o r moxdd. Composts arc mixtures of several
earths, or earthy substances or dungs, either for the improvement of the general soil
under culture, or for the culture of particular plants.
24Ü9. I n respect to composts f o r the amendment o f the general soil of the garden, thcir
quality must depend on that of the natural soil : if this he light, loose, or sandy, it may
be assisted by the addition of heavy loams, clays, &c., from ponds and ditches, cleanings
of sewers, &c. On the other liand, heavy, clayey, and all stnhborn soils may be assisted
by liglit composts of sandy earth, drift, and sea sand, the shovellings of turnpike roads,
the cleansing of streets, all kinds of ashes, rotten tanner’s bark, rotten wood and sawdust,
and other similar light opening materials that can be most conveniently procured.
2410. Composts f o r p a rtic id a r (dants may he reduced to, light sandy loam from
old pastures ; strong loam, approaching nearly to brick earth, from the same source ;
peat earth from the surface of heaths or commons ; bog earth from bogs or morasses ;
vegetable earth from dccajrad leaves, stalks, cow-dung, &c. ; sand, either sea sand, drift
sand, or powdered stone, so as to be as free as possible from iron ; lime rubbish ; and,
histl}^, common garden earth. There are no known plants that will not grow or thrive
ill one or other of these earths, alone, or mixed with some other earth, or with rotten
dung, or leaves. Nurserymen, whose practice may be considered a safe ci*itcrion to
judge from, have seldom more than three sorts of earth: loam, approaching to tlie
qualities of brick earth ; peat or bog eai'th, from heaths or morasses ; and the common
soil of their nursery. With these, and the addition of a little sand for striking plants,
some sifted lime rnbhish for succulents, and some well-rotted cow-dung for bulbs and
some sorts of trees, tliey contrive to grow thousands of different species in as great
perfection (taking the difference between plants in pots and plants in the free soil and
air) as in thcir native countries ; and many, as the pine, vine, camellia, rose, &c., in a
superior manner.
2411. P ra c tic a l lim it to ingredients f o r composts. Cushing, one of the best writers on
the propagation of exotics, observes, “loam, peat, and sand seem to he the three simples
o[‘ 'nature, if I may so call tlicm, most requisite for our purpose ; to which wc occasionally
add, as mollificrs, vegetahlo or leaf mould, and wcll-rottcd dung ; from tho judicñous
mixture aud preparation of which, composts may be made to suit plants introduced from
any qnai'tcr of the globe.” (E x o tic G ardener, p. 153.) Sweet (B o ta n ic a l C u ltiv a to r)
concurs in this opinion. See also Haynes O n Collecting and F o rm in g Composts, &c.
2412. P re p a ra tio n o f composts. The preparation requisite for tlic heavy and light
composts for general enrichment, and of the above diftcrcnt cm-ths, consists in collecting
each sort in the compost-ground, in separate ridges of 3 or 4 feet broad and as
many high, ancl turning them every six weeks or two months for a year, or a year and
a half, before they arc used. Feat earth or heath earth, being generally procured in the
state of tiu'vcs full of the roots and tops of heath, rccpiircs tivo or thrco years to rot ; hut,
after it has lain one year, it may be sifted, and what passes through a small sieve will ho
found fit for use. Some nurserymen use both these loams and peats as soon as procured,
and ftiicl them answer perfectly for most plants ; but for delicate floivers, and especially
bulbs, and all florists’ flowers, and for all composts into the composition of which manures
enter, not less than one year ought to be allowed for decomposition, and what is technically
called sweetening. The French gardeners allow for thcir rich orange-tree composts
from three to six years.
2413. T k e compost ground may he placed in any situation concealed from the general
view, hut at the same time exposed to the free action of the sun, air, and rain. Its size
will depend on that of the garden, and on the sorts of culture Ibr which the moulds arc
adapted. It should generally form a part of the parallelogram enclosure used as hotbed
ground ; and, where there arc hothouses, hoth the hotbed and compost ground should
be situated as near them as possible.
S e c t . II. Operations o f P rop ag ation.
2414. T he operations o f propagation are among the most curious and d iffic u lt in gardening.
Plants arc universally propagated by seed, but partially also by germs or bulbs, suckers,
runners, slips, and offsets ; and artificially by layers, inarching, grafting, budding, and
cuttings.
S u b s e c t . 1. Prop ag ation hy n a tu ra l M ethods.
2415. B y seed. Here the first consideration is to make sure of live seeds ; for some
lose their vitality very early after being gathered, while others retain it only foi; one or
perhaps two seasons. Tho size of seeds requires also to he taken into consideration, for
ou this depends the depth which they require to he buried iu the soil : the texture of their
skin or covering must be attended to, for the same reason. On the form and surface of
the outer coating of seeds sometimes depends tho mode of sowing, as in the carrot, and
on thcir qualities in general depends their liability to he attacked by insects. The nature
of the offspring expected, and the projicr climate, soil, and season, require also to he kept
in view in determining how, where, when, and in what quantity, any seed must he sown.
Such are the general considerations ; thcir particular applications will occur hcrealtcr.
2416. B y germs o r bulbs. These, whether cauline or radical, require in general to be
planted immediately or soon after removal from the parent plant, in light earth, about
thch- own depth from the suriacc. Matured bulbs may he preserved out of the soil for
some months, without injury to thcir vitality ; but infiuit bulbs ai'c easily dried up and
injured when so treated. . , , „ , • i
2417. B y offsets. This mode is not very easily distinguished from the foregoing and
following, and seems in a strict sense only applicable to young radical bulbs, which, when
separated or taken off from the parent roots, arc termed oftscts.
2418. B y slips. These are shoots which spring from the collar or the upper part ot
the roots of herbaceous plants, as in the auricula ; and nnder-shmhs, as thyme, &c. _ The
shoot, when the lower part from which tho roots proceed begins to npcn, or acquires a
firm texture, is to be slipped or drawn from the parent plant so far as to bring off a heel
or claw of old wood, stem, or root ; to which generally some roots, or rudiments of roots,
are attached. The ragged parts and edges of this claw or rough section arc theu to be
smoothed with a sharp knife, and the slip planted in suitable soil, and shaded tUl it
strikes root afresh, or appears to have recovered from the cftccts of amputation.
2419. B y division o f ihe p la n t. This mode is adopfyd with many species, as most perennial
grasses, the daisy, polyanthus, and a great variety of others. The plant is taken
up, and the earth shalccn from its roots ; the whole is then separated, each piece containing
a portion of root and stem, which may he planted without farther preparation.
2420. B y runners. With certain species this is a very convement and sure mode ot
propagation. All that is requisite is, to allow the plantlct on the shoot or runner to he
■vvell rooted before being separated from tbe parent. It may then bo planted where it is
filially to remain. .
2421. B y suckers. These arc merely runners underground ; some run to a consicier-
ahlo distance, as the robinia, narrow-leaved elm, pliysalis, &c. ; others are more limited
in thcir migrations, as the lilac, syriiiga, Jerusalem artichoke, saponaria, &c. All that
is necessary is to dig them up, and to cut off each plantlct with a portion of root ; after
which its top may be reduced hy cutting off from one fourth to one half of the slioot, in
order to fit it to the curtailed root, and it may then be planted, either in the nui'Sing-
departmcnt, or, if a strong plant, where it is finally to remain.
S u b s e c t 2 . P ro p a g a tio n hy L a ye rin g .
2422. L a y e rs arc indicated by nature ; and wc shall here point out the improvements
of art and their applications. The roots in n a tu ra l layers are produced by the stimulus
of the moist earth on which the shoots, from the nature of the tree or plant, or accidcntiil
causes, recline: art increases the natural stimuli, and adds others, especially that of diminishing
the resources of the shoot in the parent plant, hy incision, tortion, or fracture.
2423 Season. In general, tho operation of layering in trees and shrubs is commenced
before the ascent of the sap, or delayed till the sap is fully up ; and hence the two seasons
ai-e early in spring or at midsummer. Autumn and winter ai*e also resorted to for convenience
in extensive concerns. The shoot, or extremity of the shoot, intended to become
a new plant, is half separated from the parent, at a few inches’ distance from its extremity ;
and, while this permits the ascent of the sap at the season of its rising, tlic remaining half
of the stem, being cut through and sepai-ated, forms a dam or sluice to the descending
sap ; which, thus internipted in its progress, exudes at the wound in the form of a gra-
nulous protuberance, which throws out roots. If the cut or notch in the stem does not
penetrate at least half way though, some sorts of trees will not form a nucleus tiio first
season ; on the other hand, if the notch be cnt nearly through tlic shoot, a sufiiciency of
' l i
t a i : . . .
r tab
; :
; j