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entails the care of the plants throughout the winter, 

 compares unfavourably with raising from seed in spring. 

 No heat is required for raising seedlings in April, as the 

 plants come readily in a cold frame. They should be 

 pricked off four inches apart when they begin to 

 crowd in the seed-box, and lime should be sprinkled 

 around them when they are planted out, as slugs are 

 very fond of them. The plants may be put in a foot 

 apart. Unless the summer is very dry they are likely to 

 keep on blooming till October, as they last remarkably 

 well. The perennial summer Phloxes, both early and 

 late blooming, can be propagated by division, cuttings, 

 or seed. They must not be expected to spread suffi- 

 ciently at the root to be strong enough for division at 

 the end of their first year ; but if the soil is good and 

 the summer moist they will probably be ready for division 

 the second year. The root-stocks may be divided into 

 several pieces with a sharp spade in winter or spring. 

 Cutting-propagation may be effected either with the 

 young shoots that start in the spring, which should be 

 inserted in boxes of sandy soil and put in a frame, or by 

 cutting some of the old roots into small pieces and putting 

 them in boxes of soil in spring just before growth starts. 

 Any of these methods will keep named varieties true to 

 character. Seeds afford a cheap and ready means of 

 getting a stock of plants, and if saved from the best 

 varieties will give a good type, but seedling plants will 

 differ from their parents. The seed may be sown in 

 boxes, and wintered on a greenhouse shelf or in a frame. 

 The young plants will be ready for planting out in May, 

 but except in very good soil and in a wet season they 

 will do no more than just flower the first season ; they 

 will not make really strong plants until the second year. 

 The spring-flowering Phloxes are propagated by cuttings 



