HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



PRO 



grees higher during the day; and if a 

 proper degree of moisture is applied, say 

 a light sprinkling once a week, if there is 

 life in the seed, germination is certain. 

 As soon as the seeds have grown so as 

 to attain the first true leaves, (that is, 

 the first leaves that show after the seed- 

 leaves,) they must be "pricked off" 

 (which see) carefully in soft, light soil, 

 similar to that used for the seeds, at from 

 one to two inches apart, according to the 

 kind. This will not only prevent them 

 from damping off, as many of them are 

 very apt to do, but they will be much 

 strpnger and suffer less when put into 

 flower pots or replanted in the open 

 ground. We prefer to replant the seed- 

 lings in the shallow boxes already de- 

 scribed. And here we again find, that if 

 the soil is mixed with half its bulk of 

 sifted Sphagnum, we get a far better 

 development of fibrous roots. They are 

 more portable thus than if planted again 

 in the soil of the hot-bed, or bench of the 

 green-house, though, of course, after 

 planting in the boxes these are put again 

 in the hot-bed or green-house. After the 

 seedlings have been planted in these 

 boxes, lightly water them and shade for 

 two or three days. 



To such as have not the convenience 

 of a hot-bed or green-house, vegetable or 

 flower seeds may be sown in the shallow 

 boxes above mentioned, and placed in 

 the window of a south or east room, 

 where the thermometer does not average 

 less than 70 degrees. Success would be 

 more complete, however, if panes of glass 

 were placed over the seeds, resting on 

 the edge of the box an inch or so from 

 the soil. This would prevent evapora- 

 tion, and render watering less necessary. 

 Propagation of Plants by Cuttings. As now 



PRO 



understood, this is a simple matter. 

 Formerly no operation in horticulture 

 was more befogged by ignorant pretend- 

 ers, who, in writing or speaking on the 

 subject, so warped the operation with 

 troublesome conditions as to discourage, 

 not only amateurs in horticulture, but 

 inexperienced professional gardeners as 

 well. 



One of the first necessary conditions in 

 <Jie propagation of plants by cuttings is, 

 that the plant from which the cutting or 

 slip is taken must be in vigorous health. 

 If weak or tainted by disease, failure is 

 almost certain to result. If, for exam- 

 ple, we wish to root cuttings of green- 

 house or bedding plants, such as Bou- 

 vardias, Chrysanthemums, Fuchsias, Gera- 

 niums, Heliotropes, Salvias, Verbenas, etc., 

 one of the best g aides to the proper con- 

 dition is when the cutting breaks or 

 snaps clean off instead of bending or 

 kneeing; if it snaps off so as to break, 

 then it is in the condition to root freely; 

 if it bends, it is too old, and though it 

 will root, it will root much slower, and 

 make a weaker plant than the slip that 

 snaps off on being bent. With excep- 

 tions so few, and those of so little import- . 

 ance that it is hardly worth while to al- 

 lude to them, cuttings of all kinds root 

 freely from slips taken from the young 

 wood, that is, the succulent growth, before 

 it gets hardened, and when in the 

 condition indicated by the " snapping 

 test," as it is called. We believe we 

 were the first to call attention to this 

 valuable test of the condition of the cut- 

 ting (snapping) in our work, Practical 

 Floriculture, first published in 1868. 

 A very general idea is current, that 

 cuttings must be cut at or below an 

 eye or joint. The practice of this sys- 



