78 



THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



But to keep or to propagate this plant 

 requires no skill at all, so for people 

 who can f;et notliing to grow — we do 

 cccasionallj' Ik ar of such — this is a 

 treasure of priceless value. Any soil 

 and any position will suit it. A 

 8unny position and a sandy loam suit 

 it best of any, and it makes a good j 

 second, third, or iourlh row, for it | 

 grows if left to itself to a height from I 

 two to tljree feet, and therefore can ' 

 be kept to any less height than that i 

 by the constant use of finger and i 

 thumb. As many of the corres- j 

 pondents who have received small 

 parcels of the plant wish to know 

 how to increase it rapidly, 1 will en- 

 deavour to sketch out a process in a 

 few words. Whatever has been done 

 with them no matter ; if they are in 

 the border take them up and pot 

 them in five-inch pots, using sandy 

 loam, plenty of drainage, and cram- 

 ming as many roots into the pot as 

 it will hold. If there is only one pot- 

 ful the diligent cultivator may soon 

 make a thousand plants. Place the 

 pot in a warm greenhouse, and keep 

 it shaded for a week, sprinkle the 

 tops frequently, and keep the roots 

 moderately moist. As soou as the 

 growing shoots are pushing freely, 

 place the pot in the full sun. When 

 the shoots are two inches long cut 

 them off close to the soil, remove the 

 lower leaves so as to leave an inch of 

 stem clear. Dibble these cuttings 

 into a pan half full of leaf-mould, and 

 filled up over that with sand. Sprinkle 

 and cover with a bell-glass. Place 

 this pan anywhere in a heat of 60^ 

 and the cuttings will be rooted in a 

 fortnight, by m hich time having; given 

 air by tilting the glass, and at last re- 

 moved the glass altogether, the cut- 

 tings will be firm and growing freely. 

 Observe here that though this plant 

 grows well, it makes very iew and 

 very poor roots, and it is not ad- 

 visable to disturb those roots, and 

 besides the potting-ofF is simply a 

 waste of labour. But we have now 

 come, say, to the third week in April. 

 Now cut off the tops of all the rooted 

 cuttings within one or two joints of 

 the soil in the pans, and do the same 

 with the shoots that have risen, from 

 the original roots in the pot. This 



time you will be able to fill two pans 

 with cuttings, and the process just 

 described is to be repeated. A close 

 frame without bottom-heat will do 

 now to insure quick rooting, but if 

 there is a dung- bed at work, or room 

 anywhere over a tank, let these have 

 bottom-heat; there is nothing like it 

 when stock is needed in a hurry. 

 When tiie plants in the first cutting- 

 pan have begun to shoot again, place 

 the pan out of doors on a bed of coal 

 ashes, or in a frame without any pro- 

 tecting light, and give it enough 

 water to keep the plants alive, and 

 take no further notice of it. But 

 when the old plants in the pot have 

 started shake them out, and cut the 

 roots into as many separate pieces as 

 possible, reserving as much fibre as 

 possible to each. Pot these in thumb 

 pots in sandy loam, and shut them 

 up in a frame for a week, giving them 

 of course a sprinkle daily. At the 

 end of a week give air freely, and in 

 another week set them out also. Now 

 you will have the last lot of cuttings 

 rooted, and these may be strength- 

 ened by giving air freely, and their 

 destination must be out of doors with 

 the others. 



By this time all the world— that 

 is in this latitude — will be busy bed- 

 ding-out. You may now saiely de- 

 termine on a line of Antennaria as 

 many feet lout; as you have plants. 

 Suppose you have but 100. Then 

 if you wish for a substantial line of 

 100 feet long j ou cau have it. Tliis 

 is the way to go to work. As soon 

 as the ground is marked out, plant 

 one row a foot apart. Plant firm, 

 water well, and shade. If pots are 

 plentiful put an empty pot over every 

 plant for a week. It will stand still 

 for a fortnight, and then begin to 

 grow. As suon as the shoots are four 

 inches high, cut them all back to two 

 inches, and dibble in all the cuttings 

 between those already planted ; this 

 will make the whole six inches apart. 

 Put pots over these for a week, and 

 then remove thtm. From that time 

 forward nip back as often as pos- 

 sible, and dibble in all the cuttings 

 in the ribbon, they will all root, and 

 as by this time empty pots will be a 

 nuisance, choose showery weather for 



