88 
NAT. ORDER. COMPOSITE. 
ble for cultivation, and when the weather proves dry or unfavorable 
a little water should be given thenij especially at the time when they 
are first planted. 
When the sowing of these seeds are not made at an early period, 
the best practice is to let it be done in the situations where the 
plants are to grow, which should be rather warm and dry, the mould 
being made fine by the rake previous to their being sown ; as by 
this process their growth is less checked than when transplanted. 
In either method of sowing, care should be taken to cover the seed 
but slightly, and that the bed of earth be made fine and mellow. 
The only further culture which they require is that of keeping the 
plants perfectly free from weeds and well supported in the time of 
flowering. 
The Italian species, as well as the whole of the hardy American 
sorts, may be easily increased by parting the roots. In the Ameri- 
can, it is best performed in the autumn, the parted roots being imme- 
diately planted out in the places where they are designed to flower. 
The Italian sort requires some little different treatment — they should 
have the roots parted and replanted as soon as the flowers begin to 
decline, as, if deferred till autumn or spring the growth is very much 
retarded and weakened, and they do not flower so freely. The roots 
in this kind should not be taken up oftener than once in two or three 
years, where a full display of flowers is the principal object. 
This sort has been very much neglected, especially since the intro- 
duction of the American species; but from the plants creeping less 
by the roots, and requiring less support in the stems, they are equally - 
deserving of regard for the purpose of cultivation. 
As this sort is not, however, capable of increasing fast by dividing 
the roots, it may be more readily multiplied by planting the cuttings 
from the young shoots, in the latter part of spring, in situations where 
the mould is light and fine, being well shaded from the effects of the 
sun till they are perfectly established in the soil. The last, or 
shrubby sort, must be propagated by setting the cuttings of the 
