PK0PAGATI0N OP PLANTS. 



87 



cellent, also, to put over the patches of newly planted 

 flower seeds, causing them to come up much sooner. Re- 

 move them when necessary to admit mild rains, and en- 

 tirely when the plants appear. 



Shingles, sharpened so as to enter the earth easily, are 

 very useful to protect plants, newly set out, from the di- 

 rect rays of the sun ; two of them, inserted at right angles 

 to each other, with the point of the angle to the south, and 

 inclined so that the tops come a little over the plant, will 

 screen it completely from the sun, and at the same time 

 allow the night dews and gentle rains to refresh the plants. 



CHAPTER IX. 



PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



There are two modes of propagating plants, viz., by 

 seed and by division. Species are propagated by seed, 

 but varieties, except in the case of annuals, generally by 

 division, as they do not always continue true from seed. 

 There are also two modes of propagating by division; in 

 the one, the plants root in the ground as suckers, layers, 

 and cuttings, and in the other they are made to unite with 

 another plant, as in budding, grafting, and inarching. 

 While all plants are naturally multiplied by seed, most 

 kinds also allow of propagation by division, as by taking- 

 offsets, or parting their roots, by suckers, cuttings, run- 

 ners, layers, etc. Propagation by seed often produces 

 new varieties, which are only to be perpetuated by division 

 of their roots, cuttings, layers, or by budding and grafting 

 upon stocks. 



Propagation by Seed. — The most healthy and vigorous 

 plants are generally produced by seed, though many varie- 



