226 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



FROFAGATION'. Any method by which plants 

 can be increased in quantity, however slow the process 

 may be, is rightly referred to as being applicable for 

 the purpose of Propagation. Plants are propagated in 

 various ways some which increase at a most rapid rate 

 by one method cannot be similarly raised by another ; 

 occasionally, they cannot be raised at all. The principal 

 modes are those of seeds, cuttings, layers, offsets, bulbs, 

 tubers, suckers, runners, and division of the plant or 

 rootstock. Budding and grafting afford facilities for the 

 rapid Propagation of such plants as under certain con- 

 ditions may be successfully dealt with; and sometimes 

 leaves are inserted, with the result that new plants 

 or bulbs will eventually form on the firm parts of 

 the main midribs where incisions have been made. Under 

 Budding', Cuttings, Grafting, Layering, and Leaf 

 Propagation, details may be found of the ways in which 

 these several systems of Propagation are adopted in 

 practice, which it is unnecessary to repeat under this 

 heading. 



Propagation by seeds is the most natural mode, and is, 

 consequently, the one by which the vast majority of 

 plants naturally spread and reproduce their species more 

 or less true, according as the flowers are subjected or 

 disposed to become influenced by foreign pollen affecting 

 their fertilisation. If all plants were naturally to repro- 

 duce themselves true from seeds, the endless variety re- 

 presented, for instance, in florists' flowers, could not 

 possibly have been obtained by artificial fertilising and 

 cross-breeding, neither could further improvements be so 

 rapidly made. Where exact counterparts of plants cannot 

 be insured by seed-saving, there is generally some one or 

 more of the other methods of Propagation which can be 

 successfully applied, as the insertion of cuttings, buds, or 

 grafts, which generally retain their distinctive characters, 

 although often — as in budding and grafting — supported 

 by sap which is not that of a plant or tree of the same 

 species, nor, maybe, even of the same genus. The great 

 number of annuals in cultivation must of necessity be pro- 

 pagated from seeds, as their roots do not live long after 

 the seed comes to maturity. The conditions requisite for 

 successful Propagation by seeds, are the proper ripening 

 beforehand of the latter, their right preservation during 

 the interval between collecting and sowing, so as to in- 

 sure the retention of all germinative properties, and their 

 insertion in soil at the proper time, under conditions 

 favourable to rapid or slow development into plants, as 

 individual sorts may be naturally disposed. Some seeds, 

 even when perfectly matured, retain their germinative 

 properties but a comparatively short time ; while others, 

 kept under favourable conditions, are just as good at 

 the end of four, or frequently more, years, as in the first 

 after being gathered. When old seeds of flower or 

 kitchen garden crops are intended for sowing, a few of 

 each should be tested beforehand, in order to ascertain 

 the proportion of good ones in a given quantity. This 

 may easily be done, by sowing a potful, and placing them 

 in a little heat. A seed-room kept at about 45deg., 

 and not much affected by outside fluctuations of tem- 

 perature, is best suited for the general preservation 

 of seeds, from the time of collecting them until the 

 period for sowing ; it should have a boarded floor, and 

 be kept quite dry. There are, however, many seeds, 

 especially those of trees, which lose their vitality if 

 kept dry ; these should be placed in sand, soil, damp 

 moss, or some other substance suitable for preserving 

 them, until the proper time for sowing arrives. This 

 varies considerably with different plants, and as those 

 raised from seed are extremely numerous, it is impos- 

 sible to refer to them in more than limited and very 

 general terms. One of the chief considerations is that of 

 sowing so that the young plants shall appear above 

 ground at a season suitable to their after-development. 

 Tender annuals, that will not withstand cold weather, 



Propagation — continued. 

 must be sown in spring ; hardy ones sometimes succeed 

 and flower all the better if they are established by that 

 season. Seeds of plants that are biennial — that is, do 

 not flower until the second year — require sowing before, 

 or soon after, midsummer, a season favourable to 

 germination, and one which allows the plants, when ob- 

 tained, to become established before the winter. There 

 are numerous plants grown from seed for indoor decora- 

 tion, the season for sowing which depends very much on 

 the time when the product is required. Gardening sup- 

 plies are in constant demand, and sowing for succession 

 is one of the gardener's chief considerations, as it affects 

 so seriously his system adopted for providing what is 

 requisite at the proper time. There are various methods 

 of seed-sowing, but in the open ground they may practi- 

 cally be reduced to two, namely, scattering indiscrimi- 

 nately or broadcast, and sowing in drills. The last-named 

 is the one now most generally practised, as it affords 

 more convenient opportunities for cleaning and thinning 

 the crops or seedlings, as the ease may be, than the 

 broadcast system does. Under glass, shallow pans are 

 perhaps most suitable ; they afford a larger top surface 

 than pots, and this is often desirable for enabling 

 one to sow thinly. Whether pans or pots are used, they 

 should always le thoroughly clean and dry, and be well 

 drained. Seeds of any description may be said to re- 

 quire a lighter soil wherein to germinate than that in 

 which the plants will grow when established. Even 

 those of forest-trees, which fall and root themselves into 

 the earth, are naturally provided with a covering of 

 leaf-soil formed by the decay of the leaves which the 

 trees themselves shed. Encouragement to free root 

 action is first essential, and this is usually best given 

 by the use of a light compost, into which the roots can 

 readily enter ; any special requirements can be prorided 

 when they are stronger, and when nutriment is neces- 

 sary to assist in building up the plant's tissues. A rule 

 which is sometimes adopted, and which is not altogether 

 to be considered inapplicable at any time, is that of 

 covering seeds, when sowing, with an amount of soil 

 about equal to their own depth. If the seeds were very 

 small, and covered deep with soil, in all probability, the 

 plants would perish before reaching the surface ; large 

 seeds, which are generally of a much stronger constitu- 

 tion, are more likely to succeed. It is, however, notice- 

 able that some large trees have comparatively minute 

 seeds, which require very careful treatment when young 

 specimens are being raised. 



Passing on to refer briefly to the other methods of 

 Propagation enumerated, cuttings are perhaps the most 

 useful. Nearly all soft-wooded plants are readily in- 

 creased by them, and a very large proportion of hard- 

 wooded ones that are not entirely limited to being 

 increased from seeds. Cuttings require to be of different 

 degrees of firmness. A proper knowledge of various 

 plants must be acquired from experience before success- 

 ful propagating can be practised. Some cuttings emit 

 roots from almost any part of the stem, while others 

 need a joint or heel, and preparation of an exact nature, 

 to insure the emission of roots. Offsets, tubers, bulbs, 

 and corms, are formed, in some cases, on the stems of 

 plants which bear them, but more generally about their 

 roots. Where they are produced, an easy mode of Propa- 

 gation is effected by separating or lifting them when 

 the old plants ripen and their tops decay. Tubers admit 

 of being cut into several pieces, each of which will 

 eventually form another plant if it is provided with 

 a perfect eye or bud that can be preserved from 

 injury after being planted ; the Potato is a well-known 

 example of this. Corms of the Crocus will also be 

 familiar ; they are formed in quantity round the old 

 one, and should be taken up and replanted separately 

 each year. Propagation from suckers is a simple pro- 



