124 Milady's House Plants 



Pricking off the Seedlings 



One-fourth the area of the frame will most likely 

 be ample for the seed sowing and the rest may be re- 

 served for "pricking off" the young seedlings as soon 

 as they are big enough to be handled by the thumb 

 and finger. This process consists of transplanting 

 the seedlings into orderly lines about one and one-half 

 inches to two inches apart each way, according to the 

 kind and size of the plants. These should be shaded 

 heavily for a day or two after transplanting, when 

 part of the whitening may be rubbed off and finally 

 removed altogether. After the little plants are large 

 enough to touch each other, they will have to be either 

 transplanted into the open garden or put into three- 

 inch pots and again later in the Summer into four- 

 or five-inch pots. 



Rooting Geranium and Other Cuttings 



The coldframe is also a good place in which to 

 root the Geranium cuttings that were taken from 

 the plants when potting. These should be carefully 

 "made," that is, cut with a sharp knife in the direc- 

 tion shown in illustration, page 123. The side toward 

 which the knife blade is pulled is always bruised by 

 the pressure and so should always be the side of the 

 cut to be thrown away, as it is important that the 

 tissues at the base of any cutting should be mutilated 

 as little as possible. The soft, sappy shoots of any 

 plant that has been all its life in a dark room are 

 useless for cuttings and it is only a waste of time 

 trying to root. them. 



%■ Cuttings may also be taken of any of the bushy 

 Jiinds of Begonias, Impatiens, English Ivy, etc. 



