THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 141 



to the first joint. In taking cuttings it ia a rule either to slip them 

 off at a joint with the joint or heel on, or, taking a part of a branch 

 or shoot and cutting it clean across below an eye or bud. The reason 

 for this is that a cutting roots far quicker and surer at a joint, or 

 beneath an eye, than it would do at any other part of the stem. The 

 sap or life-blood of a plant rises between the bark and the wood. 

 When a cutting is taken off, the sore part of the wound inflicted 

 must of course be where the flow of the life current has been 

 stopped ; so it is naturally there where it heals up first and the root 

 appears. A cutting when it shows si°;ns of rooting, calices or heals 

 up round the inside of the bark, much in the same way as you will 

 see a tree heal over where a branch has been cut off. Directly after 

 calicing has taken place the little rootlets make their appearance as 

 little round knobs, which soon lengthen out searching for food to 

 sustain the returning energies of the cutting, which is now entitled 

 to the dignified name of a plant. 



Cinerarias, musk plants, forget-me-nots, primroses, and other 

 plants that throw out leaves or shoots direct from the crown of the 

 root, can be easily propagated by division; that is, cutting them up 

 into parts and potting the parts separately. Mosses or selaginellas 

 are propagated by inserting several ends or pieces over the surface of 

 the pot or pan that you intend for a specimen plant. Ferns in most 

 varieties are propagated by division, those with creeping stems or 

 rhizomes by simply cutting off a part and potting it ; and others that 

 form a crown by cutting clean through the ball and crown and 

 separating it. "When inserting a cutting make a hole with a dibber 

 and fill up the hole round the cutting with sand, which will prevent 

 them much from damping away at the stem. 



Annuals, such as stocks, asters, mignonette, candytuft, etc., are ail 

 raised from seed. All flowers that spring, grow, flower, and die all 

 in one season, are called annuals; biennials live and flower for two 

 seasons or more. You have therefore to raise new plants of annuals 

 every year, and can always have a change from one kind to another. 

 And besides, they are very interesting, as you have the whole dura- 

 tion of their existence under your notice, from the germinating of the 

 seed till they flower out and die. Their life is short indeed, but how 

 lovely they are when in the height of their beauty. 



A great many people err in sowing their seed too deep, and are 

 therefore disappointed in the result. Too-deep sown seeds are 

 smothered. Never sow them much deeper than an eighth of an inch. 

 Seeds vary much in size, and the depth of sowing must vary accord- 

 ingly. Scarlet runners, nasturtiums, and sweet peas may be sown a 

 quarter of an inch deep ; stocks, asters, mignonette, candytuft, etc., 

 just covered and no more. Very small seeds, such as calceolarias 

 and lobelias, should be sown on a fine smooth sandy surface, not 

 covered, kept damp, and have a bit of glass placed over the pot to 

 keep the cold draughty air oil'. Always shade your seed pots or pans 

 from the suu, for it would soon dry them up, and destroy the germi- 

 nating power of seeds; a piece of brown paper tacked down over 

 them till they are up will do very well. When you are going to fill 

 a pot to sow seed in, give it good drainage and shake the soil down 



May. 



