140 



CASSELL'S POPTJLAK GARDENING-. 



■times destroyed during very severe ones.' Its uses 

 •are too well known to require reference herein. 

 The quickest and best mode of propagation consists 

 of striking cuttings of the young growing shoots 

 -during the month of May. The plants resulting 

 from these are more quickly grown and robust than 

 when slips or more matured side-shoots are tomaway 

 from the plants and dibbled into the ground, which 

 is a convenient method where pots and glass cos'er- 

 iugs do not exist. The cuttings should be about 

 four joints in length, cut off immediately beneath 

 the lowermost pair of leaves. Inserted into sandy 

 ssoil tightly, and kept close, or warm, in pit or 

 frame for a short time, they root very quickly, and 

 are soon ready for finally 

 transplanting out into the 

 permanent bod. To pro- 

 pagate the plant by means 

 -of the more matured slips, 

 they should be slipped of£ 

 neatly, and should consist 

 ■ of the shortest side-shoots. 

 'Then cut away any rough 

 -edge from the base of the 

 wound, remove all old leaves 

 up to the upper two or three 

 pairs, and dibble each 

 deeply, or up to the base 

 of the lowermost leaves ex- 

 isting upon each, in a shady 

 border. When these are 

 : rooted and commence grow- 

 ing, prepare a bed for them 

 in any part of the garden 

 ■where f uU or partial sun- 



fshine exists, and plant the young plants thereon 

 In rows, lea^ving one foot between each plant. 

 •During all after-culture care must be taken to 

 keep them periodically cut do^wn, or the points of 

 rail strong leading shoots must be removed, or the 

 plants ■will rapidly assume a too long or leggy form. 

 "The practice of cutting down the plants in the early 

 : autumn is beneficial to the plants in this regard, if 

 it he but done at a time convenient for future 

 growth, which should be established prior to winter. 

 This process should be performed towards the end 

 of July, at such time as the plant shows a dispo- 

 sition to flower, when aU flowering shoots should be 

 removed at their base. In pruning them do^wn, 

 however, take care to leave a few growing shoots 

 ■aroimd the base, as an aid to the plant's future 

 ; progress. 



Savory, Summer and Winter [Satureja hor- 

 . iensis and S. montama). French, Sariette ; German, 

 •^eimrei; Italian, Satoreggia. — The Summer Savory 



Sase. 



is a hardy annual, and a native oi Italy. It is 

 grown from seeds sown annually during the early 

 part of the month of April. The plant delights in 

 a sunny situation and a deep rich soil. So soon as 

 the seedling plants are large enough, thin them out 

 to six inches apart. This will define the distance 

 requisite between rows when the seeds are sown in 

 drills, as is sometimes advisable. 



Winter Savory is a dwarf hardy shrub, intro- 

 duced also from the South of Europe. To secure a 

 stock of it, seeds may be sown as directed above for 

 Summer Savory ; the young seedling plants to be 

 subsequently, when large enough, transplanted on to 

 a similar site at one-foot distances apart. So soon 

 as growth recommences 

 in this newly-planted bed, 

 take off the points of each, 

 to induce a bushy growth. 

 It wiU be desirable to 

 choose a showery period 

 during the month of June, 

 should the plants be large 

 enough for such transplant- 

 ing. 



To propagate this Winter 

 Savory otherwise than from 

 seeds, old plants may be 

 divided, or cuttings formed 

 of the young side-shoots, 

 consisting of a portion of 

 old wood, dibbled out into 

 a shady border, as advised 

 for Sage. 



Skirret [Simn Sisarum). 

 French, Chervis ; German, Ztwkerwurzel ; Italian, 

 Sisaro. — The Skirret, or Crummock as it is occasion- 

 ally called, is a, perennial, having generally some- 

 what di-rided enlarged roots, which are cooked and 

 used after the manner of Salsify, &c. The plant 

 was at one time far more popular than at present. 

 The roots may be said to be pure white and of very 

 ]5leasant flavour. Seeds should be sown in drill- 

 rows eight or nine inches apart, about April 10th, 

 'and when the plants are large enough thin them 

 out to seven inches apart in the rows. A light 

 stony or sandy soil well worked, and -with a layer of 

 manure seven or eight inches deep, is most likely to 

 produce roots ■with limited branches. The plant 

 being a perennial, as stated above, can also be pro- 

 pagated by means of root-divisions. Any side-roots 

 which can be detached from the stools, dibbled 

 out into similar soil to the above, at any time 

 when the stools are large enough, ajid they have not 

 run to seed, will produce examples in all ways fit for 

 culinary uses. 



