How to manage a Garden 



most cases there will be no further watering needed until 

 germination has commenced. At this stage the glass 

 should be taken off, and the seedlings gradually exposed 

 to full light. It will be necessary to take many precautions 

 against birds, slugs, vermin, &c. 



Cuttings. 



Another method of reproduction which is found of great 

 use to the gardener, and which may be employed for the 

 increase of a large majority of plants, is by means of 

 cuttings. Cuttings are pieces taken off a plant and put 

 into soil for the purpose of emitting roots. When the 

 nature of growth admits of cuttings being taken, it is very 

 rare for them not to emit roots, if the right conditions are 

 afforded them. The proper way to take a cutting is to cut 

 it from the parent plant, immediately below a leaf-joint, 

 but not so close that the leaf will fall off. In most cases 

 the lower leaves should be cut off. Only when it is 

 especially desirable that the lower leaves of a plant should 

 be retained will it be necessary to infringe this rule. The 

 cut should be straight, not slanting. Some cuttings are to 

 be taken from well-ripened, and others from young, wood. 

 In most cases it is better to have fairly plump wood, as 

 distinguished from sappy growth, which is more likely to 

 damp instead of striking. The size of a cutting is another 

 thing for which no hard and fast rule can be laid down. 

 If we say that there should usually be left five or six leaves, 

 or buds, there is little fear of going far astray. Personally, 

 I prefer short cuttings, as there is then practically an 

 entirely new plant to work upon. 

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