k 





THE CULTIVATION OF THE IVY. 



types they may be related, they have these invariable characteristics that the 

 growth is forked, twiggy, and tends to form close symmetrical rounded heads ; 

 that the leaves are either wholly entire or very slightly lobed ; and that there 

 is a disposition to the formation of flowers and fruits abundantly. The quickest 

 way to produce fine specimens 

 is to graft in March shoots 

 cut from flowering wood of 

 the kind to be propagated on 

 strongly rooted stocks of Irish 

 ivy. The stocks should be 

 struck for the purpose the pre- 

 vious April or May, and be 

 kept in pots, so that when the 

 grafts are put on they may be 

 housed and kept shaded, to 

 encourage a quick union. But 

 flowering wood will readily 

 strike if the cuttings are made 

 early in the season. Take off 

 at the end of June a number 

 of shoots on which the leaves 

 are all entire, prepare them in 

 the usual way to form cuttings 

 four to six inches long, and pot 

 them singly in 54 or 60 sized 

 pots ; place them in a pit for 

 about eight days, and keep them 

 shaded and sprinkled occasion- 

 ally ; then put them on a gentle 

 bottom-heat, until the pots are 



full of roots ; shift to 48 or 



Natural growth of the arborescent Irish ivy. 



32 size, using a fourth part rotten manure in the compost ; place them on a bed 

 of fermenting material out of doors, and there let them remain until the end of 

 September, when they must be removed to a pit or other place of shelter sufficient 

 just to protect them from severe frost. In March these will be in fine condition 

 for grafting, and will require no further potting for another year. The after 

 management consists in providing them with sufficient pot room, watering as 





