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AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



A Simple Pretty Trellis. 



These and many others are reliable for garden decoration 

 and for cut flowers. 



Climbers. They will, as a rule, require deep, 

 moderately good soil, and sufficient trellis, frame, wall, 

 stake, or other support. That shown in the illustration 



may be brought into use 

 for many purposes. It is 

 simply a row of posts, say 

 10 feet apart, the end 

 posts being stayed firmly. 

 Over the top a stout wire 

 is fastened, and two other 

 stout wires are stretched 

 along the ground from 

 two to three feet from the 

 posts as shown. Strings 

 or wires are then ar- 

 ranged between the ground and the wire on top, and to 

 these latter the plants are trained. Concerning varieties, 

 the seedsmen catalogues offer much information. 



Saving Seed. To secure strong, full-grown vigorous 

 seeds too many should not be allowed to mature on any 

 plant, and then every flower can be saved for seed bearing. 

 To leave a few pods along the bottom of the stem for maturing 

 seed after picking off the best flowers is bad practice. 

 When several pods are left to ripen, the strength of the 

 plant is absorbed by them, and the growth is consequently 

 checked. This is as correct of flower seeds as vegetables, 

 beans, peas, &c. 



Plants from Cuttings. One of the most satisfactory 

 methods of propagation. We can depend upon plants 

 from cuttings being identical with the parent plants from 

 which they were taken, whether they are for foliage, flower, 

 or fruit bearing. A cutting from young wood is the most 

 likely to grow. It should have from four to six buds. 

 Sandy soils answer best for this kind of propagating, and 

 shade and shelter from drying winds with moderate 

 watering help them to root. Roots are also got by 

 suspending the cuttings in water in bottles. It is an old- 

 fashioned method, but as effective as ever. The process 



