CHAPTER XX 

 ROUTINE WORK 



THE amateur gardener who is content to supply his green- 

 house with pot plants from a nursery, even though he be 

 willing to take some care of them when flowering is over, 

 loses a vast deal of enjoyment. The different processes of 

 seed-raising, of propagation by cuttings by various methods, 

 of the training and pruning of growing plants, are full of 

 interest, and give great zest to the occupation, which then 

 becomes a real recreation of the best type which consists in 

 a change of work. To have nursed a seedling one's self, through 

 all its different stages, into a vigorous flowering plant, gives a 

 satisfaction which the finest effort of the nurseryman will never 

 bestow upon a mere purchaser. 



A very simple form of Wardian-case and a set of bell- 

 glasses of various sizes are of the greatest assistance in 

 raising plants either from seed or from cuttings. The case 

 which I have long had in use was originally made with a 

 water-tank to be heated by a lamp burning beneath it, but 

 any artificial heating was dispensed with years ago. All that 

 is needed is a removable zinc tray, about 2 in. deep, 

 to hold a layer of damp sand on which the pots can stand. 

 It is, in fact, a mere glass-box with a sloping lid, standing on 

 legs of a convenient height, which may be made by any 

 one who is capable of handling carpentering tools. This 

 most useful piece of furniture can generally find a place in 

 some unoccupied corner of a greenhouse preferably, of 



