58 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



and sand. They must be firmly embedded in this soil, a blunt 

 dibble being a useful tool to press it well around their base. 

 In about a month they will begin to root if they have received 

 attention in the way of sprinkling and shading, and their rooting 

 can readily be detected by the jaunty manner in which they 

 erect their foliage and assert their independence as plants. 



Marguerites are free-rooting plants and the young cuttings 

 soon become congested in the boxes or pans, and if this continues 

 a few more of the vigorous will deprive the weaker portion of 

 their share of nutrition so that they remain dormant. They 

 should therefore be potted as early in the season as convenient, 

 say, from mid-February till mid-March, 3j-inch pots being used 

 and the compost very much as that used for the cuttings, plus 

 a modicum of manure. The treatment must still be must 

 always be moist and cool. They will require pinching when 

 grown about 3 or 4 inches to induce a bushy growth, and those 

 required for ordinary bedding sales will need no further potting. 

 But a very large number are required for window boxes and pot 

 or specimen plants, and these must be potted on early in April 

 to 5-inch pots, using a more generous compost. 



Overcrowding must be avoided, and they must never be 

 starved. An occasional sprinkling with soot-water prevents 

 the maggot, and as prevention is infinitely better than cure, 

 this should regularly be done at least once a week. At the 

 risk of irritating by reiteration we repeat that the two things to 

 be avoided in Marguerite growing is dryness and undue heat. 



LOBELIAS 



The Lobelia may very safely be propagated by the thousand. 

 We almost question whether it is profitable to propagate in 

 smaller quantities. It occupies but little space throughout 

 the winter and is so superior in every respect to those raised 

 from seeds, that those who have facilities might well be persuaded 

 to take it up. It never requires a great heat, neither does it 

 like to dry out ; a moist, temperate atmosphere being what it 

 really enjoys. To obtain cuttings in quantity stock plants 

 must be cut down at the end of August to induce young growths 

 of a non-flowering character to spring up very much like what 



