Principles of Gardening physiologically considered. 263 



i?rica, Brunm, and those plants which easily make roots. In the 

 latter the roots even sometimes proceed from the internode. 



To these may be added herbaceous plants, or those that have 

 a soft wood and are of rapid growth, which easily and quickly 

 produce the root formation ; and, as these have a much more 

 intense vital action than hard-wooded trees and shrubs, they 

 imbibe the nourishing sap much more quickly and form the callus 

 more easily ; and, as they are almost continually growing from the 

 beginning of spring till late in the autumn, they are, therefore, 

 fit at almost every season of the year to form a young woody 

 layer, and more capable of producing the roots which proceed 

 from it; consequently, they are not so long exposed to accidents 

 as those which are slow in forming their roots, and before that 

 period frequently perish. 



The most suitable time for making cutting's is therefore after 

 a period of rest, when new shoots begin to show themselves, 

 and when the plant is in possession of its greatest activity. This 

 time is in March and April for plants that require a cold tem- 

 perature; for those that require greater heat the cuttings must 

 be made somewhat earlier, as practical experience has fully 

 proved. The second shoot makes its appearance in the months 

 of June and July, but is not in a fit state for propagation, 

 because the strength of the plant has been already exhausted 

 by the first shoot. 



With regard to the time of year, these fundamental prin- 

 ciples can be only but very vaguely fixed, as the time must 

 more particularly be chosen when the new shoot begins, and this 

 varies very much according to the different zones from which 

 the plants come. Those that easily produce roots, which we 

 have taken less into consideration, may be made into cuttings 

 almost all the year through. Many of these, such as the spe- 

 cies of Calceolaria, Pelargonium, Fuchsia, and Salvia, were, for 

 instance, in this garden, made into cuttings in the latter end of 

 August and the beginning of September, and put in a mode- 

 rately warm hotbed, where they made roots before the frost 

 set in, so that a part of the old plant would be cut away. 



The first two genera, with a few exceptions, such as Calceo- 

 laria nivea, Pelargonium tricolor, &c, should have their cuttings 

 placed in quite a cold bed, giving it air from the beginning, at 

 least during the night. Although they will make roots more 

 slowly, they will be more certain ; and, on account of their 

 steady and firm growth, they will be more enabled to pass the 

 winter in a house that is perfectly cold, or, like the calceolarias, 

 in a pit protected from the frost. 



In propagating those plants that are difficult to make root, 

 we must be very careful that the cuttings are kept in such a 

 condition that they may be fresh and healthy at the time the root 



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