48 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



of the plants. Any disadvantage to the young plants is coun- 

 tered by a system of hardening, and every firm of repute resorts 

 to this before distributing the rooted cuttings. 



According to the time of year, the cuttings, under ordinary 

 treatment, will take from three to five weeks in rooting, and 

 directly it is observed that they have done so they should be 

 stood in a light airy place where they will be encouraged to 

 consolidate rather than grow. Those intended to be grown on 

 as pot plants should be potted in good soil as soon as they are 

 well rooted, while those grown for the wholesale trade or for 

 planting out, should be boxed, but not thickly. 



Do not try to keep your young stock in the houses when the 

 sun begins to be powerful in March and April, for then they will 

 almost certainly be attacked by the leaf-mining maggot, like 

 Marguerites. Get them out into the frames, keeping then fairly 

 moist and well aired, so that they do not become leggy and hard. 



The cultivation of young Chrysanthemums on a large scale 

 is very fascinating, and though specialised labour is necessary 

 for very large stocks, the ordinary nurseryman whose stock 

 amounts to a few hundreds finds it quite practicable to grow them 

 with other stock, using intelligent though not specialised labour. 

 It is in their later stages that special skill is called for, and this 

 we shall again take up when Healing with the further cultivation 

 of this popular and valuable flower. 



ZONAI, GERANIUMS 



The Geranium is still the best-known and most generally 

 used of all summer bedding plants, and is consequently the 

 principal one grown for that purpose by nurserymen. Its 

 propagation is remarkably simple and easy if only its few 

 elementary wants are provided for. Spring and autumn are 

 the recognised times for making cuttings, not because they will 

 not strike as well as others, but because they are the most con- 

 venient. Those struck in the autumn are handled then because 

 cuttings are abundant, more than at any other season ; those 

 struck in the spring are from young growths capable of making 

 useful-sized plants by the time the bedding season comes, at 

 the end of May. But as a matter of fact, Geraniums strike with 



