V 
AUTUMN 
137 
easy to strike anywhere, and the little pieces 
that are put in now will flower better next year 
than the old plants. The way to take a cut¬ 
ting is to select a nice young growth, not a 
hard, straggling old shoot, and cut it straight 
across, just below a joint where young 
leaves are sprouting. Cut the leaves off, 
but do not injure the joint, and nip off any 
flower-buds. When the end that has been 
cut off is put in the soil, it will throw out 
roots instead of leaves, and unless it is kept 
too dry and gets scorched by the sun, or has 
too much moisture and gets mouldy and 
“ damps off,” it will soon begin to get nourish¬ 
ment by its new roots and form a healthy little 
plant. Very often it is easy to obtain cuttings 
of flowers and shrubs from other gardens. As 
a rule, gardeners are very kind in that way, 
and would not grudge giving you a little slip 
of a plant you admired, which you could take 
home and try to strike. Myrtle is one of the 
most simple things to strike; it forms roots so 
readily that it will sometimes do so when kept 
long enough in water. Several flowering 
shrubs, such as weigelias, veronicas, or fuchsias, 
easily strike, also lavender, southernwood, and 
rosemary, all so sweet-smelling. 
There are two other ways of propagating 
plants in autumn — by seed or by division. 
