62 HARDY PERENNIALS 
charcoal or lime. Boxes or pans half filled with 
light soil and covered with sharp silver sand will 
serve as a rooting medium, the cuttings being laid 
in rows with about an inch space between. Sprinkle 
more sand over the roots and cover with about 
half an inch of soil. Autumn root cuttings may 
be placed in frames, but in Spring greater success 
will be secured if given slight bottom heat. 
4. Propagation by Division 
The majority of hardy perennials may be 
increased by division. 
Some which make many crowns and an abundance 
of fibrous roots may be divided into moderately 
small tufts or even single crowns. Heleniums, 
Perennial Asters, Lychnis chalcedonica, Penstemon 
barbatus are plants of this character. After shaking 
or washing the soil from the roots the crowns can 
be gently drawn asunder, and the separated crowns 
may be either planted in a nursery bed or potted 
into convenient-sized pots, the latter being the 
most satisfactory method with any but the coarsest 
and most vigorous growers. 
Where the root of a plant is of a solid fleshy 
character, with its growth buds or crowns emerging 
from a hard mass of woody or pithy substance, the 
careful use of a strong knife becomes necessary to 
divide the clump. The most prudent plan is first 
to wash away all the soil so that one may see exactly 
where to thrust the knife. Pseonies, Delphiniums, 
