178 PPOPAGATIO^ OF PLANTS. 



in the preceding chapter ; but this banking must be 

 varied according to the nature of the plant operated 

 upon ; for, in some instances, to place earth around 

 young, succulent sprouts would destroy them, while on 

 others, roots would be produced more freely than if the 

 operation was delayed until they were nearly or quite 

 mature. When such sprouts have become well furnished 

 with r/)ots, whether it be at the end of the first, second 

 or third season, they may be slipped off and planted out 

 separately. In propagating plants by divisions, the best 

 time for separating sprouts from the parent stock, or 

 dividing up clumps of herbaceous plants, is when they 

 are in a dormant state ; but this does not occur in all the 

 plants indigenous to any country, at one time, or during 

 any one season. It is perhaps true that the larger pro- 

 portion of the plants cultivated in the gardens of tem- 

 perate climates are in a semi-dormant condition during 

 the colder months ; still it is well known that the roots 

 of certain kinds grow very rapidly, while the aerial parts 

 are to all outward appearances in a state of complete rest. 



With by far the larger number of the species of plants 

 cultivated ,m cold climates, ^spring is the best season^for, 

 dividing and transplanting, because the warm rains which 

 usually fall at this season favor the production of new 

 roots as well as buds and growth of stern. But in mild 

 Qlimatigs, where the ground does not freeze, or at least 

 not to any considerable depth in winter, the autumn 

 months would be preferable, in which to do such work, 

 to those of spring. 



There are, however, many kinds of bulbous, tuberous, 

 and fibrous rooted herbaceous, plants indigenous to cool 

 and coM climates that make all their stem and leaf-growths 

 early in spring and then rest during- the warmest weather 

 in summer. 'No amount of rain or degree of heat will 

 force them to make a second growth. With such plants, 

 among the most familiar of which are the spring flower- 



