RESERVE GARDENS. 



197 



and kept moist, will quickly form numerous fresh root-fibres, then slips or rooted 

 divisions (see page 184, Fig. 88, b and c) will be more plentiful when wanted. 



There is yet another very important point in relation to the extra pains taken in 

 the preparation of the ground in the reserve garden. When the soil is poor, hard, 

 and lumpy, few plants take readily to it or move kindly out of it. It is in the 

 moderately rich, freely-worked, finely- divided soil in which they form the most 

 root-fibres, and also lift with a good mass of soil and roots attached, this making all 

 the difference between success and failure. The advice, then, to reserve a plot of 

 cool ground specially for the preparation of plants that are wanted for the flower- 

 beds and borders during the late autumn, winter, and spring months, and to prepare 

 this well in advance of the time it will bo filled, is the best that can be given. 



That portion of the border immediately at the foot of a wall, fence, or hedge, should 

 be lined off to a width of about 3 feet, a narrow foot-path dividing it from the rest 

 of the border. This will to a certain extent obviate the necessity of digging in- 

 juriously close to the fruit-trees usually grown against garden walls, and also provides 

 the best position that can be found for propagating various perennials. 



Hand-lights may be arranged on part of this narrow border and half-filled with a 

 mixture of two parts of yellow loam to one of leaf soil with sharp sand added, a sur- 

 facing of sand also being given. In these hand-lights can be dibbled short cuttings 

 properly made, taking care that these are not "hung," but each must touch the 

 bottom of the holes made with a blunt rather than a pointed dibber, and firmly fixed 

 in their positions, following with a gentle watering. Unless cuttings are inserted 

 firmly and deeply with their ends resting on sand or soil, most of them will fail to 

 root. Fig. 95, a and c (next page), shows the wrong way to insert cuttings and 

 slips, with resulting plants, b and d, while the illustrations in Fig. 96 give a clear idea 

 of how they should be inserted, and the much better plants, / and h, resulting. The 

 hand-lights ought to be kept closed during the daytime, or when the atmosphere is 

 heated and dry, but may be set slightly open during the nights. The soil must not 

 be allowed to become dry, and bright sunshine ought also to be excluded. As 

 will be gathered from the preceding brief paragraphs, the perennials that can be 

 readily propagated by cuttings in June are alyssums, arabis, aubrietias, euonymus, 

 iberis, myosotis, and wallflowers ; cuttings of pansies, violas and sweet-williams also 

 striking root freely under similar treatment. 



All of these, together with auriculas, daisies, gentians, grasses, hepaticas, hellebores, 



