Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-07-28

present the hedge is ten or twelve
feet sfgh and presents fine speota-
Gle during August and September
From the road, especially in the
evening, it looks like a big bank Of
SNOW.
one year my father put In nearly
| two thousand cuttings, six To eight
inches in length. and very few of
them failed to root. He has given
away hundreds of plants to his neigh
bors. has sold several hundred dollars
| worth and has a thousand or more
fine plants on his place And yet he
has not followed it as a business, has
not advertised, and has done com
parativelY little work at it a few
hours in the spring and fall, putting
IL cuttings and transplanting as the
shrubs become crowded. and cuitivat-
ing three or four times during the
season
A neighbor has an acre or more Of
choice shrubs which he raised almost
entirely from cuttings and divisions
of plants that had been picked up here
and ehere He is mechanic and has
only an occasional half-hour to spare
for this work, and yet during the few
1ttil3H tiIttl HC Has oNIiNb Ni'iS W ~
has changed the barren hillside to a
veritable garden of beauty. And /
doubt if, outside of his work, it has cost
him more than ten dollars And yet
the shubbery and plants thus acquired
are worth good many hundred dol
lars, whether he keeps them for his
own use or sells them.
Many Of the cottage owners at a
simmer resort a few miles away have
California privet hedges set about
their grounds. These hedges are
pruned two or three times during the
summer, and the cuttings are usually
carried away to an out-of theway
dumping ground or burned Occasion
ally, however, persons going by during
the prunings have picked up the cut
tings and carried them home-or per
haps have asked the gardeners to save
them. At present there are probably
thirty fine hedges in the vicinity which
are the direct result Of these cuttings.
Privet cuttings root easily at any time
from spring to fall
| have mentioned these facts to
show how easy it is To acquire or in
crease shrubbery, and especially how
easy any boy could beautify his home
grounds or build up a profitable little
business in few years. OF course,
not all plants increase with the same
readiness Some must be propagated
by cutting, some by layering. some by
grating. and now and then there is
one with which the amateur is sure TO
fail But | venture to assert that
with the great majority Of shrubs the
beginner will find but little difficulty
As a rule. / have found it best 10 in
sert the cuttings in the spring before
the buds have started Most hard
wood cuttings If desired may be pre-
pared during the winter and placed III
the cellar to be ready To plant out as
soon as the ground opens. Cover the
bundles with thin layer of soil IL
the cuttings are To remain in the Gel
lar for some time. to prevent drying
Hvdrangeas and some other shrubs
can he rooted as late as June. Will
ows and California privet can be root
ed any time during the summer. when
in fun leaf.
Cuttings should be from -four 10
ten inches in length and, If possible
should be inserted about half their
length in moist ground. They may be
placed very close together in the rows
and the rows made just far enough a
part To cultivate easily. At the end of
the first season they will be large
enough To transplant,
If cuttings are very plentiful. II
would save trouble to put them into
the ground in the fall, throwing a thin
covering of any loose litter over them.
In the spring one could count on half
of them being rooted.
These examples / hope, will show
that anyone with little patience can
provide the home with choice shrub
berry and plants and there is a fascin-
alton in propagating that can be
found in few other pursuits Any boy
on d farm or in a village could have
snail nursery i'm one corner of the gar
den. 1t would be a constant source OF
pleasure and instruction, and with lit
tie trouble could be made to yield
snug income.-Bridgeport Telegram,