THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 141 



it. It may be propagated from seed sown in March, April, and 

 May, or from cuttings in spring ; or, better still, by taking off rooted 

 pieces, and planting them and covering them with hand-lights for a 

 week or two, to assist their establishment. The plant may also be 

 layered in summer — a process which consists in bending down a 

 branch to the earth, and fixing it with a peg or stone, and covering 

 the part which touches the earth with a little fine soil. If the 

 branch is slightly cut or snapped without breaking it through at the 

 part where it is required to root, the process is hastened, but roots 

 are sure to be formed if this preliminary is neglected. When planted 

 in quantity, a distance of ten inches apart every way must be 

 allowed. Most of the preparations for promoting the growth of the 

 hair consist chiefly of infusions of rosemary. 



Rue {Uuta cjraveolens) . — The " Herb of Grrace" thrives well on 

 the top of a wall, or on a heap of brick rubbish, or on a bank of 

 chalky or sandy soil. The best way to propagate it is by cuttings of 

 young shoots in May or June, put under hand-lights, but firm hard 

 shoots may be planted in October, and they will make good plants 

 the next season. Seed is a tedious method, but it may be adopted, 

 and the best time to sow it is April or May. When grown in 

 quantity, plant a foot apart. The variegated-leaved rue is a beau- 

 tiful shrub for a rockery or wall. The only uses I know for rue are 

 as a stomachic and to provoke appetite, and also to destroy worms 

 in the intestines. Por both of these purposes it is steeped in gin, 

 and the gin is taken as a medicine. It is certainly effectual. 



Sage {Salvia officinalis). — The roast goose of Old England is 

 scarcely less important than the roast beef; and so sage is scarcely 

 less to be desired than horseradish. This ])lant requires a good soil, 

 and an open, sunny position ; shelter is desirable, for in hard winters 

 sage is, in exposed situations, very much cut up. Cuttings may be 

 made, in the month of April, of the hard wood of last year's growth, 

 and these should be planted in a shady place, and have water when 

 the weather is dry. It is better, however, to wait till the early part 

 of June, and then take cuttings of the new wood, selecting the 

 strongest shoots on the outsides of the old plants. Eemove the 

 leaves from the shoots, except the last half dozen at the top, and 

 insert the cuttings deep in newly-dug ground, in a shady place, six 

 inches apart each way. Give them a sprinkle of water every morn- 

 ing, to keep the tops fresh and make the soil moderately moist. Of 

 course, this need not be done during wet weather. Let "them remain 

 till the March following, and then transplant them to an open, sunny 

 spot, one foot apart. Seed may be sown in April and May, in a bed 

 of light soil, in drills six inches apart. As soon as large enough to 

 draw, the rows may be continually thinned, and the thinnings may 

 be planted out, in showery weather, six inches apart, to gain strength 

 for planting out for use. It is a good plan to destroy plantations 

 of sage after four or five years' use, and begin again with young 

 plants, as they are apt to become stumpy, and many of them die in 

 the centre. They may be made to last any length of time, however, 

 if great care is taken to prune them carefully in the summer, and 

 from the prunings to strip the leaves for drying, instead of hacking 



