8 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



themselves upon us. They are such as " those who run may 

 read," and if they will carry the teaching into their daily 

 practice it will save them from many a pitfall. 



CHAPTER II. 



PROPAGATION 



The propagation of young plants and their subsequent 

 cultivation up to a definite given stage is the principal work 

 of the nurseryman. For this his whole place is organised, his 

 staff employed. For this he constructs houses, pits and frames. 

 The propagator is his chief of staff, well versed in the various 

 devices for increasing stock. The amount of stock raised, its 

 condition and its saleable qualities are the stock-in-trade upon 

 which he conducts his business. He has nothing else to sell. 

 What he does not, or cannot, raise, he has to buy and then 

 sell again, sometimes for little gain. 



We cannot exaggerate the importance of the propagator, 

 for the success or failure of the business depends in a great 

 measure upon him. Our ideal propagator is a man of some 

 considerable attainments, informed on matters not, at first 

 sight, directly to do with his practical duties. He is of trained 

 intelligence, a keen observer, a thinker carefully methodical, 

 conscientious. Not imbued with the spirit of " ca' canny " 

 or working ever with his eye on the clock, but one who can win 

 the entire confidence of his employer as well as that of his 

 fellow employees. 



So much for the man ; now let us look at his work. This we 

 shall deal with in some detail in so far as it has to do with ordinary 

 market plants, leaving the after-cultivation to be dealt with in 

 further volumes. And if the number of subjects dealt with 

 are disappointingly limited, we can only say that rarer, costly, 

 unmarketable plants and crops are beyond the present purposes 

 of this book. 



There are two principal methods of increasing stock, viz., 

 from seeds and by cuttings. Other methods are : divisions of 

 roots, grafting, layering, budding, etc. ; but for the present 

 we will devote ourselves to the raising of seedlings and 

 propagation by cuttings. 



