MARGUERITES 



57 



formidable enemy, the leaf-mining maggot, a pest capable of 

 destroying any number of plants among which it can obtain a 

 foothold. 



Cuttings should be taken from plants in the open about the 

 middle of September and continuously till frost puts a stop 

 to it, generally towards the end of October. Probably the best 

 time is at Michaelmas. A well-grown plant will often furnish 

 fully 100 cuttings, and these 

 should be made exactly as 

 we recommended for Calceo- 

 larias. 



In the extreme South 

 of England they may be 

 inserted and wintered in 

 cold frames, but over 

 the greater part of the 

 country the frosts are usually 

 too severe to permit this 

 economical method of raising 

 them and we are compelled 

 to use boxes or pans so that 

 in the event of severe 

 weather coming they may 

 readily be removed from the 

 cold frame to the cool house 

 for safety. 



The young tops of all the 

 current growth (not being 

 flowering wood) make 

 splendid cuttings, and these are obtained not only from 

 the leaders, but from the numerous side growths this plant 

 invariably throws out. Hard wood does not readily root ; 

 indeed, we have noticed that cuttings made of hardened growths 

 refuse to root even though they may put on a limited growth. 



An open, fine, and sandy soil, which readily dries out, is not a 

 suitable medium to strike the cuttings in ; they require a soil, 

 as suggested above, retentive of moisture and of a cool nature, 

 a compost made up of principally sifted pasture loam, leaf mould, 



1 



\/ 

 FIG. 10. Cutting of Marguerite 



