PROPAGATING ROSES.
In an article on this subject an English horticultural journal describes the method pursued by a London florist. After stating that out of a case containing 310 cuttings only five failed to root, the article proceeds: The case or box is made of common rough deal boards. It is five feet six inches long and one foot in depth. Within half an inch of the top a groove is cut inside the box, into which the glass is slid, after the manner of a sliding box lid. In the end of the third week in July the box was placed in the kitchen garden under the shadow of a high north wall; it was then about half filled with good turfy loam, to which had been added a little leaf mould and a good sprinkling of sharp sand. The soil was then pressed down very firmly (the box being nearly half full when pressed), and then thoroughly well soaked with rain water, and allowed to stay uncovered until the next day. The next day good stout cuttings were taken of all the roses, both tea and hybrid perpetual, which it was desired to add to the stock. They were then inserted closely and firmly in the soil, just over the bottom leaf, the glasses were slipped on and puttied down; the grooves in which the glass slid, and even the joints in the glass, being filled with putty, so as to exclude the air. The whole thing completed, nothing more remained to be done but to leave the box in its cool, shady nook for five or six weeks, when the growing points of the free starting kinds gave notice that the glasses might be removed, a bit at a time, with safety. Nothing could be more simple, or demand less skill, and the operation may be carried out successfully by an amateur at any time during the season, when good firm cuttings can be got, and when six weeks' tolerably fine weather may be counted on. The success of the whole thing depends on having the glasses fixed so that they may not be removed until the cuttings are rooted, and in placing the boxes in a shady place. So treated, carnations and many of our shrubs and herbaceous perennials may be propagated by unskilled persons with certainty, and without much trouble.
A FEW OF THE BEST INULAS.
Of the fifty-six species of Inula described in scientific works, probably not more than thirty are at present in cultivation in this country, and those are chiefly confined to botanic gardens, notwithstanding the fact that many of them are useful garden plants. They are principally distributed throughout Southern Europe, although we find them extending to Siberia and the Himalayas; indeed, it is to the Himalayas we are indebted for the kinds that are most ornamental. Some of the low-growing species are extremely useful for the rockery, such as I. montana (the Mountain Inula), a fine dwarf plant with woolly lanceolate leaves and dense heads of orange-colored flowers, resembling in habit and general appearance some of the creeping Hieraciums. It is a handsome and desirable plant for the decoration of old walls and similar places, where it can be a little sheltered from rain and drip. Another very useful species for this purpose is I. rhizocephaloides, found plentifully in the Himalayas. It is one of the prettiest Alpine composites we have. It seldom attains more than from one inch to two inches in height, forming a dense rosette of short, hairy, oval leaves, in the center of which the bright purple involucres, in the form of a ball, are extremely interesting. It is easily cultivated, requiring, however, a rather snug nook, where it will not be allowed to become too dry. It is best propagated from seed. Then there is the woolly Inula (I. candida), a pretty plant with small oval leaves, covered with a thick, silky down, and much in the way of the white-leaved I. limonifolia, both of which are very effective when grown in masses, which should always be low down near the front of a rockery, or as an edging for a mixed border. The glandular-leaved Inula (I. glandulosa), of which a good representation is here given, is a beautiful hardy perennial. It is a native of Georgia and the Caucasian Alps, near the Caspian Sea. It is a rather robust-growing species, with large, bright, orange-yellow flowers, varying from three to five inches in diameter, the narrow and very straggly ray florets contrasting nicely with the rather prominent disk. The leaves, although quite entire, seem notched, owing to large black glands which form on their margins. They are lanceolate, and clasp the stem. The plant is very variable, both as regards robustness and size of flowers, and this may in a measure account for the confusion existing between it and I. Oculus-Christi.
The soil most suitable for the full development of I. glandulosa is a strong, clayey, retentive loam; it does not thrive well in the light shallow soils in the neighborhood of London, except in shady positions. I. Hookeri is a free-flowering perennial, with pointed lanceolate leaves, of a delicate texture, bright green, and very finely toothed. The flowers, which are sweet-scented, are not so large as those of I. glandulosa, and are produced singly, the ray florets being, however, much more numerous, rarely numbering less than thirty. It is found in abundance in rocky places in Sikkim, where it replaces the nearly allied I. grandiflora, a dwarfer species, with much shorter, shining leaves; both are very desirable plants either for rockery or flower border work. The Elecampane (I. Helenium) is an imposing, robust-growing species, having large, broad leaves a foot or more in length. It grows from four feet to five feet in height, and its thick, shaggy branches are crowned with large yellow flowers. For isolating in woods this plant, is very useful, and with the exception of Telekia cordifolia, it would be hard to find a rival to it. It is, I believe, pretty extensively used for planting in shrubberies, but unless they are thin and open it is seldom seen to advantage. It is found wild or naturalized in some parts of England. It flowers in June and July, and even into August when the season has been favorable.
