92 CARE OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTER V. 



PROPAGATING, SELECTING, PLANTING, 

 CLEANING, WATERING, ETC. 



PROPAGATING. 



The violet may be propagated in a number of 

 ways, and as much of the success in growing the 

 crop depends on proper methods we shall go into 

 some detail as to the various practices followed. 



One of the most common methods is to divide 

 the crown. This can be done whenever there is 

 sufficient crown to divide, but the common way is 

 to make the divisions in spring after the flowering 

 season is over. The plant is merely lifted with a 

 spade or trowel, and after all the dirt is shaken off 

 the roots the plant is pulled apart or cut apart, as 

 one may think proper. In dividing such a crown 

 young plants of various kinds will be found. 

 Some will have long, "leggy" stems, with many 

 leaf scars upon them; some will be short and 

 stocky; some will have hard, woody roots, while 

 others will show white, clean-growing roots cov- 

 ered with young feeding rootlets and root hairs. 

 It is the general practice to throw away the 

 scrawny plants and to put the others in soil 



