116 ^ EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



The following methods have been employed here in multipljdng varieties desired 

 for lawn or decoration on this and the Branch Farms : 



1. Propagating from cuttings of the ripened wood. — This method is attended 

 with such slight inconvenience and difficulty as to render it practicable to every 

 one having a small area of cultivated ground available. 



In October, select a warm and well drained situation, stretch a garden line and 

 open a trench eight or ten inches deep and the width of a spade. It will be an advan- 

 tage to have one side of the trench slanting instead of perpendicular, against which to 

 lay the cuttings. The soil at the bottom of the trench should be mellowedby digging. 



Cuttings of the ripened wood of the current year's growth ax-e then made by cut- 

 ting it into nine inch lengths. These are stuck in the soil on the slanting side of the 

 trench at regular distances of six inches apart. The earth is then filled in and care- 

 fully packed about the cuttings till level with the surface, leaving only the upper bud 

 of each cutting in sight. They may remain in this condition till freezing weather, 

 when the rows should be covered with a mulch of leaves or coarse manure. 



The mulch should be removed the following spring and the cuttings be given 

 good cultivation. At the end of the season a large proportion of the varieties men- 

 tioned below, will have become well rooted and have made a considerable growth; 

 being large enough in some instances to transplant to the lawn oi' border. 



The following classes of flowering shrubs are easily propagated in this way : — 



Honeysuckle (Lonicera) erect and trailing. 



Spiraea including bridal wreath, and nine bark. 



Barberry (Berberis) also easily grown from seed. 



Siberian Pea tree (Caragana) beautiful in spring. 



Weigelia (Diervilla) Spring and summer flowering shrubs. 



Japan Eose (^Eosa Rugosa) summer blooming. 



Tamarisk (Tamarix) Foliage beautiful. 



Snowball ( Viburnum opulus) grows most readily from layers. 



Cytisus, closely allied to the laburnums. 



Shrubby Five-finger (^Potentilla) summer flowering. '^ 



Sea Buck-thorn (Sippophae rhamnoides). 



Siberian dog wood {Gornus Siberica) propagates best by layering. 



Syringa (Philadelphus) the common mock orange. 



Deutzia (Deutzia) White flowers in early spring. 



Carolina Allspice (Calycanthm Floridus) Spring flowering. 



Smoke tree {Rhus cotinus) Autumn flowering. 



Southern wood (Artemisia). 



This list includes a large proportion of the most desirable plants of deciduous 

 habit suitable for lawn decoration in this vicinity 



2. Propagating prom green wood, — By this method cuttings are taken early 

 in August from the unripened tips of the current year's growth. They should be 

 four to six inches in length and be prepared by removing all the leaves except 

 three or four of those last developed. They are then planted three inches deep in 

 rows in a frame supplied with soil of equal parts of sand and loam. The frame is 

 then covered with hot-bed sash, which is carefully shaded till the plants become 

 rooted. The cuttings should be carefully watered and aired during this period. 



On the approach of winter the rooted plants may be either taken up and stored 

 in a cold cellar or be protected with a mulch in the frame. 



Nearly all the plants mentioned in the preceding list may be propagated in this 

 way, but it is specially useful for striking plants of the beautiful large flowered 

 Hydrangea (H. Paniculata grandiflora) which can be multiplied in this manner 

 with as much ease as the geranium. 



Propagating Eetinosporas and Thujas by Cuttings. 



There is no class of evergreen plants so useful for house culture in winter as 

 potted plants, or for lawn decoration, as the various species belonging to the genus 

 lietinospora, commonly called Japan Cypress, and to those may be added numerous 

 for-ras of dwarf cedar (Thuja). It is a matter of regret that florists do not grow them 

 more frequently as potted plants, when they may be rooted so easily. 



