64 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GAEDEXIXG. 



To that portion of tlie present work wliich. is 

 devoted to the Life-History of Plants, we there- 

 fore recommend the beginner's attention, as by it he 

 wi]l be taught where improvements in his methods 

 of cultm^e are possible, and be led to the discovery of 

 much that will prove of value and interest to him in 

 the pursuit of horticultm-e. 



Notwithstanding the advance that has been made 

 in a knowledge of vegetable physiolog)', and of the 

 laws that affect the multiplication of plants by arti- 

 ficial methods, there is, as we have already hinted, 

 much about which science can give us little helpful 

 information. To classify all known plants into 

 groups, for each of which a particular kind of treat- 

 ment would prove successful in their propagation, is 

 only possible by ignoring the natural aflfinities of 

 plants, by which is meant their botanical relation- 

 ships with each other, and allowing ourselves to be 

 giiided by the results of practical experiments upon 

 the plants themselves. Even then, there would re- 

 main a large number of anomalous cases of plants 

 which require special methods for their multiplica- 

 tion, and of others for the propagation of which it 

 may be said we have practically no successful data. 

 It is only by testing each new plant as it comes into 

 our possession, that we can arrive at a knowledge of 

 its reproductive capacity. The nature of by far the 

 greater portion of the plants cultivated in this 

 country is such as precludes the possibility of in- 

 creasing them by the most natural methods, that is, 

 from seeds ; we are therefore compelled to resort to 

 what we have called artificial means, of which cut- 

 ting?, grafts, layers, buds, «fcc., are the most gener- 

 ally used. It is to these we refer when speaking of 

 the difiiculty experienced in the propagation of some 

 plants ; for of coiu'se all vegetables in a state of natm-e 

 are capable of reproducing themselves by means of 

 seeds, although under cultivation they often exhibit 

 the same sterility as is known to exist in many 

 animals when domesticated. Nothing strikes the 

 beginner as being more anomalous, than those cases 

 where a variety of a plant cannot be propagated in 

 the same way as the type from which it sprang ; or 

 where a species of the same genus fails to reproduce 

 itself under the same treatment as with another species 

 proves successful. There is no known reason why 

 some Aralias should strike freely, whilst others cannot 

 be rooted from cuttings, although ' the species are 

 closely related to each other ; and this is but one 

 instance among many of a similarly inexplicable 

 cliaracter. 



Another case of irregularity similar to the above 

 is that of many plants failing to thi-ive under culti- 

 vation in this country, unless grafted upon another 

 species or kind. There are thousands of j)lants 

 which exhibit this peculiarity, apart altogether from 



those which are improved by being grafted upon 

 another kind, an important subject to which we 

 shall refer again. The selection of a suitable stock 

 upon which a plant incapable of thriving upon its 

 own roots would succeed, is often very difficult. In 

 the cultivation of fi'uit, Coniferae, and Eoses, this is 

 always of great importance. 



Again, the strange incongruity observable in the 

 reproduction fi-om seeds of the characters of the 

 parent plant is another subject upon which informa- 

 tion is wanting. Stability of character is as un- 

 certain among cultivated plants as the most ardent 

 disciple of the doctrine of evolution need wish. For 

 the piu-poses of the horticultuiist, this character of 

 breaking away fi'om the type is often an advantage ; 

 but where the typical characters are what we desire 

 to have reproduced in the offspring, seeds as a 

 means of propagation are rendered comparatively 

 valueless by their often failing to reproduce - the 

 parental characteristics wished for. These and 

 similar cases of an anomalous nature are to be borne 

 in mind when we are about to deal with the multi- 

 j)lication of new plants, or those with the vaiiabihty 

 of which under cultivation we are unacquainted. 

 When failm-e is the result of the application of one 

 method, another and another must be tried until the 

 most suitable one is discovered. 



The large influx of new plants of all kinds, both 

 for j)m-poses of ornament and economical uses, which 

 has been consequent on the rapid development of 

 horticultui'e in recent years, has given an impetus 

 to the art of plant propagation never before known : 

 and the effect of the inquiries into the laws which 

 govern the process of fertihsation and hybridity, has 

 been to stimulate the efforts of cultivators after im- 

 provement of race. 



TVe may profitably devote a section to each of 

 the methods practised in the reproduction and im- 

 provement of cultivated plants, giving the details of 

 each as fuUy as possible, and showing how they may 

 be applied with success to the most important and 

 interesting of our garden products. 



SEEDS. 



Introductory. — All flowering plants may be 

 considered capable, under favourable conditions, of 

 reproducing themselves fi'om seeds. It is usual to 

 speak of seeds as the natm-al method of reproduction, 

 and of all other methods as artificial or auxiliary. To 

 be accurate, however, we should consider ever^' one 

 of the numerous means of reproduction in plants of 

 which we have any knowledge to be natural, as the 

 capacity to be thus increased is inlierent, and requires 

 only this or that condition for its being called into 

 action. Cuttings, buds, division, offsets, and even 

 grafts are known to be used by natm-e for the 



