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Multiply Your Hydrangeas 
EASY METHODS OF PROPAGATION FOR TEN¬ 
DER AND HARDY SORTS—HOW TO PRUNE 
T HERE is no more decorative plant in the garden than the 
Hydrangea, and where the hardy and tender kinds are 
used in planting, the results toward a continuous flower display 
are more than satisfying. It generally follows, unfortunately, 
that what is desirable in the plant line, is prohibitive because of 
the price, but with Hydrangeas, both the tender and the hardy, 
the cost is very small. For a small expenditure in propagating 
an ample stock can be had and you can have them in tens or 
hundreds with about the same effort and expense. 
To go into the market and buy hardy plants, it will cost any 
where from ten to fifty cents each, and those for the lower price 
will not be worth the expenditure. At thirty-five cents apiece 
the average man is not using many plants, but when the cost to 
the nurseries of interest on investment, labor, running expenses, 
etc., is taken into consideration, the price will not seem so exor¬ 
bitant. You can save this cost by doing as described below. 
THE METHOD OF PROPAGATING 
The easiest way to increase a stock of tender Hydrangeas 
is by cuttings. Supposing you intend to propagate these plants, 
you must have a stock to start with; that is, an old plant, or 
plants, from which to get the cuttings, unless you purchase them 
outside. In the spring, start your stock plant into growth; to do 
this pot it up and put it in the warmth and sunlight. When 
sufficient wood has formed, make cuttings by severing the 
branches below an eye. Put these in a shallow box filled with 
coarse sand, or a mixture of sand and loam, and place in the 
light. Shade them from the strong light, until they have made 
roots. It will not take long to do this, and each little cutting will 
have a bunch of fibres at the end of the stem. At this stage they 
should be potted into very small pots, or thumbs, watered care¬ 
fully and placed in the light, as with the cuttings, shading from 
the strong sun until well established. Later in the season, when 
sufficient growth has been made, they must be given another 
shift into larger pots. Planted during the summer they will 
make very thrifty plants by the fall. 
THE STOCK PLANT 
After the first batch of cuttings has been taken off, the stock 
plant should be kept growing and a second batch of cuttings can 
be taken, and the old plant, or plants, will be presentable when it 
is time to do the summer planting. If any cuttings are wanted, 
the same method may be followed with these young plants when 
they have made sufficient wood, and the possibilities of multipli¬ 
cation are only limited by one’s requirements. There are no 
technicalities about the performance. If you have not suitable 
window light, a coldframe with a glass sash will answer nicely 
for a greenhouse, and if care is given in regard to sheltering on 
In taking the cuttings from the stock plant, cut just below an eye, After several weeks in the flat of sand the little cutting will develop 
leaving a pair of leaves a root growth like this 
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