146 HORTICULTURE LECT. x 



profitable course, indeed, the only course by which 

 the most satisfactory results can be achieved. 



The subject of raising plants and trees from 

 cuttings, and in other ways, has had attention, and it 

 is well to remember the reason why such cuttings as 

 currants, gooseberries, and, in fact, all trees, root 

 better when inserted in the autumn than in spring. 

 In the autumn the sap is sinking, and forms a swell- 

 ing at the end of the cutting in the ground, roots 

 soon following. But in the spring the sap is rising, 

 no swelling forms at the end of the cutting to make 

 roots, and it perishes. Cuttings of window plants, 

 as has been stated, strike in the summer when kept 

 moist, shaded, and air is excluded by tumblers or 

 bell-glasses ; but if not, the moisture escapes from 

 the leaves and the cuttings die. When the reason 

 why cuttings fail and why they grow is known, a 

 man starts with a great advantage over his neigh- 

 bour who knows nothing about the matter. We 

 have tried to stimulate thought on many things, and 

 to direct the minds of our hearers in the right way 

 for acquiring knowledge, and feel sure that none can 

 be the worse, but would fain hope that many will be 

 the better, by the endeavour. 



It has not only been pointed out that plants and 

 crops need food in the soil, but the chief kinds of 

 food have been stated. These are three : Nitrogen, 

 that originally comes from the air ; Potash, that is 

 plentiful in wood-ashes ; and Phosphates, found in 

 bones ; with lime as a solvent and food staple. 

 It is because good stable manure contains those 

 three kinds of plant food that it is valuable, 

 and if they have been lost by overheating, or their 

 juices have been drained away, the so-called manure 

 is of little use a sort of husk, " a dead body from 

 which the spirit has flown." No such waste should 



