THE HOME FLORIST. 15 



The planting of these may be done at any time during the months of September, October 

 and November, or even later, provided the ground remain unfrozen later, which is sometimes 

 the case. To be entirely safe it is best, perhaps, not to defer the work much after October. 

 Bulbs will succeed in any good garden soil ; in order, however, to secure the highest degree of 

 success in their culture, it is necessary to plant in a soil that is well drained and enriched with 

 thoroughly decayed manure. When all plantings have been completed, and before winter sets 

 in, cover the beds with several inches of leaves, straw or other coarse litter, to prevent the 

 severe action of freezing from injuring the Bulbs. In situations much exposed to the wind, a 

 few brush or sticks thrown on will prevent its being blown off. Early in the spring this fall 

 covering should be removed. Where beds planted with hardy spring-flowering Bulbs are 

 required for summer flowers, Hyacinths, Tulips, etc., may safely be taken up to prepare for 

 planting the subsequent fall, as early as two weeks after the flowers have disappeared, provided 

 the precaution of covering the Bulbs with soil, to allow the foliage to become gradually ripened, 

 is observed. 



Taking up Plants from the open ground in the Fall. Many kinds of 

 bedding plants, such as Geraniums, Veronicas, Stocks, Salvias, Ageratums, Roses, Carnations, 

 etc., can be taken up from the flower-beds at the approach of frosts, and transferred into pots, 

 or even packed thickly in boxes of soil, by taking care to have some earth adhering to the roots, 

 and by keeping in a rather dry and cool cellar, or better yet in a cold pit through the winter. 

 It must, however, be done at the sacrifice of much autumnal beauty, as they require a severe 

 cutting back of at least one-third or one-half of the shoots. But this is gain after all, for such 

 plants, when kept over, in most cases, make a better show the next year than the plants of the 

 present season's striking. They may receive one thorough watering when potted ; after which 

 they should be kept quite dry until spring, when water should be applied every few days in 

 increased quantities as they commence making a new growth. 



SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPAGATING FROM 

 CUTTINGS AND LAYERS. 



The larger proportion of plants that do not seed freely, if at all, or which cannot be 

 increased by division of the roots, may be propagated from cuttings or layers of the young 

 growing shoots. How important a thorough understanding of these methods of propagation 

 is to the florist, may be comprehended when we consider that this is about the only, and 

 really the best, means of increasing the majority of that class of plants commonly known as 

 perennial greenhouse and bedding plants, in which may be included Tender and Hardy Roses, 

 Geraniums, Fuchsias, Carnations, Verbenas, Heliotropes, and very many others of equal import- 

 ance as decorative plants. As the two methods are quite distinct, I shall treat upon each 

 separately, commencing with that of propagating from cuttings, as this is the more commonly 

 employed method of the two. 



The principal conditions essential to successfully propagate from cuttings are nearly the 

 same with all plants susceptible of being perpetuated by this means. These are first, that the 

 cutting be in a proper condition ; second, that it be rightly pruned or trimmed ; third, that it 

 receive suitable treatment and care while rooting; and fourth, that after it is rooted it be trans- 

 planted from the cutting box or bed to soil at the right time, and that it be properly attended to 

 until it becomes a well established plant. 



With the generality of kinds the ends of newly formed shoots make the best cuttings, and 

 are greatly preferable to old hardened growth. There is a certain time and condition in the 

 growth of all plant shoots in which, if a cutting be taken, it will strike root and make a plant 

 sooner and better than at any other time. To ascertain this condition, and how far back it 

 extends from the growing terminal bud, it should be understood that there are different degrees 

 of hardness present in the wood the youngest part being the softest, while towards the base of 

 the shoot it is harder and more fibrous as the oldest portion is reached. By taking a 

 cutting off, clown in this hardened portion of the shoot, it would be found to root slowly, and in 

 some plants not at all, and at best would make a plant, comparatively, of inferior quality ; while 

 with adopting the opposite extreme, making a short cutting of the succulent young growth only, 

 it would be still less likely to root, and instead would, perhaps, quickly decay. Now the right 

 place to cut or break it off (breaking is generally practiced by florists) is at the furthest point in 

 from the end where a condition can be found that is somewhat hardened, and yet sufficiently brittle 

 or crisp, that it will snap off with a clean break, instead of bending without breaking, or of 

 parting with a rough break in which the fibers of the bark portion, or perhaps the whole, 

 will protrude, showing them to have become hardened and tough. Practice will demonstrate 

 that in the difference of one joint there is considerable variation in the hardness of the growth ; 

 it is always better to break or cut at a point which is rather soft than at one that has become too 

 hard. Experience will put the careful operator in the way of determining the right place with 

 scarcely a failure. 



To rightly prune or trim a cutting it is required that the superfluous leaves and leaf stalks be 



