I4 Commercial Gardening 



all interesting, and many beautiful, they are of little value commercially 

 in comparison with the garden hybrids that have appeared during the 

 past sixty or seventy years. Hundreds of thousands are raised every year. 

 The usual method of propagation is by grafting under glass from January 

 to March. The principal stock used is that of C. Vitalba, the only British 

 Clematis, popularly known as Traveller's Joy, Old Man's Beard, White 

 Vine, &c. Stocks of C. flammula and C. Viticella, both natives of southern 

 Europe, are also used, but perhaps chiefly on the Continent. 



The process of grafting consists in splitting a shoot carefully through 

 a joint with a sharp knife, so as to make two scions from the buds, which 



are opposite each other. This 

 work is done in a warm green- 

 house, and it is astonishing 

 to see how quickly and deftly 

 an experienced gardener can 

 perform it. Side grafting is 

 usually practised, the scions 

 being attached to the top piece 

 of the root fibres with a piece 

 of raffia. The whole is then 

 placed in a 2|-in. pot in gritty 

 soil, and placed in a close frame 

 in a temperature of 70 to 75 

 F. Union soon takes place, and 

 the young grafted plants are 

 taken out at the end of a week 

 or two to make room for suc- 

 ceeding batches. During the 

 summer months, from June on- 



Fig. 420. Pot-grown Clematis Princess of Wales, trained i .* i i j 



on wire Trellis wards, the plants are placed in 



the open air, having previously 



been shifted into 5-in. pots. They are plunged in beds of sifted ashes or 

 tan, and each one is tied to a slender stake and labelled, for sale during 

 the autumn, winter, and spring months. Another method of propagating 

 Clematis adopted largely by some growers is to take cuttings of the 

 ripened shoots about May or early June. Each cutting has two joints, 

 and the leaves are retained to the upper one. About 100 such cuttings 

 are inserted in a shallow wooden tray or cutting box, using a gritty 

 soil. They are kept shaded and close under glass for a short time 

 until "callused", but are placed in the open air about the end of July 

 or August, fully exposed to the light and air, and are watered as 

 required. They are shifted from the cutting boxes during the winter 

 months, each one being placed in a 3-in. pot, and under the genial warmth 

 of a greenhouse are started into growth. Clematis raised thus on their 

 own roots are preferred to grafted plants by some. For early summer 

 trade, established Clematises are brought into flower in April and May 



