Joseph Knight

“ Abstain generally from cutting or injuring the roots, only removing any dead parts or fibres; and if a plant has not completely filled the pot with roots, replant it in a clean one of the same size, for nothing is more fatal to such as are not growing vigorously, than a very large pot.
Cuttings of most of these plants, push out roots easily, but some with more difficulty. To succeed with the latter, it is necessary to use pure sand, and to be provided with Bellglasses, which fit the pots intended to be used, exactly. ”

“ About the end of September or beginning of October, according to the mildness of the autumn, the plants should be cleaned and moved into their winter quarters, which, both for those transplanted, or any sown later remaining in seed pots, should be the most light and airy part of the greenhouse. Look them over every morning between 9 and 10 o'clock, watering such as stand in need; at this season it should be done, by pouring the water gently upon the earth near the edge of the pot, so as not to wet their stems and leaves more than can be avoided. ”

“ Nothing injures these plants more than crowding them close together; and I cannot avoid the hazard of giving offence to some of my best friends, by saying, that in many collections about London, both large and small, the wisest thing the owners could do, would be to order a third part of their plants, to be cut into faggots, for lighting the fire, of the greenhouse, in frosty weather. ”

“ The pots in which vegetables ought to be cultivated, not even excepting some aquatics, should neither be baked very soft, nor very hard; the former are of short duration, unsafe to carry about, and preserve valuable plants in, being so liable to break; the latter being less porous, often retain moisture, and exclude the air so completely, as to render a plant unhealthy, if not actually kill it. The roots of many species in this Order, delight to enter the veins and cracks of rocks, in search of moisture ”

“ Firmly believing in the golden axiom of Linne, that Genera are truly natural, now forming vast groups exceedingly inconvenient, but not to be separated; now so circumscribed in their limits, that in some Orders almost every individual constitutes a Genus ”

“ The coarse riddlings of the earth in which they are potted, may be used as drainings for very large plants; such refuse is also particularly proper for those species, that require more moisture than others, which the flagging of their leaves in hot sunshine always indicates.
For sowing seeds, the pots called flats are most suitable, of the casts 40 or 38. After draining these, fill them up to about an inch and a half below the top, with moderately fine sifted soil, upon which add about an inch of still finer sifted mould. ”

“ To cultivate the plants lately at Clapham, belonging to the Natural Order of Proteēæ, with some degree of success, of which the following pages afford the best testimony, was rendered easy, not so much by any personal experience, nor by that constant attention to them, which from habit soon became involuntary; as by the encouragement of a master, who, treading closely in the botanical steps of our most gracious King, spared no expense really necessary to their welfare, and left the hands of his servant unshackled. ”

“ If by accidental neglect of watering the preceding evening, any plant is discovered flagging so much in the middle of the day, as to risk the loss of its life, or foliage, the best method is to remove it into the shade for a few minutes, and then refresh it with water already warmed by the sun. In extremely hot and dry days, it conduces greatly to the health of most plants, after the general watering is finished, to sprinkle their whole foliage through a very fine rose, imitating the natural dew ”

“ These large broken pieces, besides the usual drainage, will also prove beneficial, in carrying off any superabundant moisture, from injudicious watering, or heavy and continued rains: nor will they be found less useful in very dry summers; for these hard yet porous substances, retain a kindly moisture when covered with earth, a much longer time than the earth alone would; consequently the small fibres which cling to them, receive nourishment in much the same way, that nature affords her liberal assistance, where they grow wild. ”

“ In training and pruning these plants, the knife must be used with caution; as they advance in stature, such as are weak or straggling, ought to have the principal stem neatly tied up to a stick, and when they are from two to three feet high, by cutting off the tender branches, they may be formed into narrow or spreading heads, according to the taste or caprice of the owner. ”

“ The leaves of all cuttings should be taken off with a sharp knife as far as the cutting is meant to be planted in the sand, taking care not to bruise or tear the bark, and to cut the bottom perfectly even, just under the insertion of a leaf. ”

“ The best season for sowing seeds is from December to March, as they will then produce strong plants before the following winter; but it is by no means intended to say, that they will not succeed at other periods, and it is a common practice with most gardeners on the receipt of fresh seeds, to make trial with a few, whenever they arrive. If sown in the latter end of summer, or in autumn, the young plants will require a particularly favourable exposure, and dry shelf that receives all the rays of the sun during winter, otherwise they will too frequently become sickly, and damp off. ”

“ The Soil in which I have found at least two thirds of these plants succeed, is a light soapy loam, mixed with a greater or less proportion of sand. Chuse a spot that has never been pared or burnt, especially on higher ground not inundated in wet seasons; and in digging the earth, only take from 5 to 6 inches of the top, including the turf. ”

“ After the seeds are sown, water the earth gently through an exceedingly fine rose, so as not to disturb its equality of surface, and let it be given very sparingly at first, as hasty watering upon fresh sifted mould generally occasions the surface to cake, then place the pots level upon the stage of a green-house exposed to the full sun. ”

“ Whenever dead leaves or branches appear, let them be removed, keeping the surface of the earth at all times free from Mosses, which are the most pernicious of all weeds to many of these plants, especially when they attach to the base of their stems.
Air is indispensably necessary for them at all ages: after they are housed in autumn, if the weather continue temperate, admit it both day and night, by keeping off the glasses entirely, or in large houses all the windows and doors open. ”

“ Old pots should never on any account be used, unless previously well washed and scrubbed with a brush inside and outside, after which they must remain till thoroughly dry; for by use, their pores become so obstructed with Confervæ, and other minute vegetables, as to be very injurious to plants growing in them/ It is also a point worth attending to, especially in extensive collections, to keep all pots not in use under cover; for by being exposed to the open air they are soon covered with millions of flying seeds of cryptogamous plants, which vegetate the instant, that the pots are moistened. ”

“ One of the first species introduced here from Port Jackson, often ripening seeds with us, and growing freely by cuttings. If these are taken from such branches, as have arrived at puberty, they will flower when only a foot and a half high. Stem cottony. Leaves scarcely 1 line broad, 5 to 8 long, linear, rolled back at the margin, quite entire, almost constantly 2-pronged at the top. Stigma globular.
Spinulosa, 9. B. caule pubescente: foliis 1 lineam latia, l1⁄2–2 pollices longis linearibus, margine revolutis, supra mediam spinulose serratis apica 3-firco: stigmate clavato. ”

“ When there is any appearance of frost however, shut up the frames and houses, early or late in the afternoon, according to the degree of cold, opening them the following morning, as soon as the temperature rises to 36 degrees of Fahrenheiy's thermometer. In the depth of winter, when the frost is intense, cover the frames with mat, as well as the houses where it can be done conveniently; and by the help of fireheat, keep the temperature within, as near as may be to 34 degrees of Fahrenheit, during the night. ”

“ In the time required for sending out roots, different species vary exceedingly: some are furnished with fibres in two or three months, while others, especially the hard-wooded species, require six, nine, or twelve months, nay from this period, even to two years: but, whenever the fibres begin to issue, it will be visible in the cheerfulness, and deep verdure of the leaves, or by their buds swelling; and as soon as a fresh shoot pushes, the Bellglass must be raised by degrees, and at length entirely removed, hardening the cuttings to the full air ”

“ A low shrub, discovered by Labillardiere on the West coast of New Holland, in calcareous soil mixed with sand. Leaves 5 to 9 inches long, nearly linear, deeply serrated, very cottony underneath. Bractes 1⁄2 shorter than the flowers. Stigma shortly conical. They delight in a dry airy part of the Greenhouse. ”

“ From time to time, as the Bellglasses become foul, wipe them clean, taking the opportunity to do this always when they are moved for watering, so as not to disturb the cuttings unnecessarily. If any die, or become mouldy, remove them instantly, for their contagion would spread rapidly. ”

“ Salisb. Flores 2-ni; in spicis ad basin ramorum axillaribus, folio subjecto nunc delapso. Bractea 1 ad singula paria, caducæ; gemmaceis aliis nullis. Petala regularia, libera. Nectaria 4, squamacea. Pericarpium folliforme, lignosum. Semina apice alata. Arbor excelsa: foliis Myricæ dentatis. ρυμοσ, ανηρ; antheris temonem referentibus.
Embothrium. Forst. Flores 2-ni; in Spicâ densâ terminali. Bractea 1 ad singula paria, deciduæ, gemmaceis aliis nullis. Petala secunda, supra basin spatio brevi cohærentia. Nectarium 1, lunatum. Cætera ut in Rymandrâ. ”

“ Mr. A. Menzies discovered this species, at King George's Sound, before Labillardiere was upon the coast. Leaves simple, obovate, quite entire: nerves 3 with a few lateral ones, but none of them so strong as they appear in the figure above quoted. ”

“ Bractea 1 inter singulos, præter Involucrum majorum, membranaceæ: folio subjecto nunc basi ampliato. Petala apice deflexa, basi cohærentia. Pericarpium ut in Leucadendro. Frutices uliginosi; foliis simplicibus, nunc apice dentatis. μιμητησ; herbâ varia genera simulante.
Paranormus. Salisb. Flores 4-ni; in Spicâ nunc densissimâ, terminali. Bracteæ 4 singulos fasciculos cingentes, rigidæ; præter 5-tam ad basin. Petala regularia, basi cohærentia. Pericarpium ut in Leucadendro. Frutices monticolæ: foliis simplicibus, decompositique, nunc in codem ramo. ”

“ It requires a great deal of pure sand mixed with loam, being impatient of much wet, neither do cuttings strike root easily. Leaves linear.
Cneorifolia. 2. A. foliis anguste spatulatis.
Mas. Protea aulacea. Thunb. Diss. n. 33. t. 2. f. 2—Fœm. Protea umbellata. Kenn. in Bot. Rep. n. S48. cum Ic. Protea umbellata. Thunb. Diss. n. 24—Widow Wail-leaved Aulax.
Introduced into our gardens, so long ago as the year 1774, from the mountains near Platte Kloof. It flowers here in August, being hardier and more easily propagated by cuttings than the other species. Mr. ”

“ L. 2. Pericarpium 2-spermum, evalve, deciduum. Persoonia. Sm. 3. Pericarpium 2-spermum, 2-valve, persistens. Euplassa. Salisb. Ropala. Aubl. Panopsis. Salisb. Xylomelum. Sm. Hakea. Schrad. Lambertia. Sm. ”

“ B. serrata. Cav. Ic. v. 6. p. 27. t. 540. B. serrata. White Voy. p. 223. cum Ic. 3. B. conchifera. Gærtn. Fruct. v. 1. p. 221. t. 48. B. serrata. Linn. Suppl. p. 126. Blunt-toothed Banksia.
Confounded with the preceding by most authors, but the Secretary of the Horticultural Society in his Prodromus observes that they differ, nor has this to my knowledge, been yet introduced. ”