Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-09-30
HOMES.
To the Editor Of the REGISTER

~ N"'N WV S
A few flowers will do more towards
making q home pretty and attractive
than many times their cost expended IN
any other way. There is no eXous for
cheerless homes when they can be 80
easily made q place Of beauty by 80
small an outlay. and a little judictous
planting. Many Of the public schools
IN Germany and Sweden have flower
gardens attached, and the children are
regularly instructed in the growth and
raising of plants. Surely We ought not
to be behind other nations in an art so
essential TO the pleasure and enjoyment
of refined homes. Now is the time to
propagate fuchsias, geranlums, petun'
las, heliOtropes, carnations, and other
plants for winter Towering. The prin-
cipal conditions essential to propagate
from cuttings are nearly the same with
all plants. There is y certain time and
condition in the growth of all plant
shoots In which, if a cutting is taken, 1t
will strike root and make q plant soon
er and better than at any other time.
To ascertain this condition and how far
back it extends from the growing ter
minal bud, there are different degrees
vi udTullcSS DICSCll IL Vic "OOu1 Tx
youngest part being the softest, while
toward the base Of the shoot it is hard
er and more fibrOu5 as the oldest por-
portion is reached. BytakiDg a cutting
off, in the hardened portion of the
shoot, it would be found to root slowly
and in some plants not at all, and a
short cutting of the succulent young
growth only, it would be still less likely
to root, anu quickly decay. Now, the
right place to cut or break it off (break-
ing is generally practiced) Is as the
fsrthest point from the end where a con
iition can be found that is somewhat
hardened, and yet SO brittle or crisp
bat it will snap off with a clean break,
instead of bending without breaking or
parting with a rough break in which
the fibers Of the bark portion Will pro-
trude, showing them to have become
hardened and tough. Practice will
demonstrate that it is always best tC
break or cut at a point rather soft than
at u that has become too hard a lit.
tie practice will determine the right
pace with scarcely q failure. To prime
or trim q cutting, the surplus leaves
and leafstalks should be removed and
the base U away with a sharp knife.
Cuttings of some plants will callus and
form roots at the base, no matter
whether it be just below a leaf.jolnt or
not, while others seem to root best from
the leafjoints, and these should be cut
of just below. Perhaps it would be
best to cut all below the joint. From
one to four weeks IS the time required
for cuttings to root, and that will de-
pend upon the condition Of the cuttings
and treatment received. II is better to
pot them offas soon as the roots are a
fourth Of an inch long, than to wait I'M
til they are an inch long, which will
endapger their being broken off. After
the cuttings have been potted of,
shade and water for a few days, or uu-
iii the roots have started into growth
IN the soil. Never put the most com
mon plant in 3 dirty pot. Never fill a
pot so full Of soil but that 1t may re.
ceive and hold water enough to soak
through the soil every pot should have
= vacancy of half an inch above the
&il. J. H. F.