John Weathers, William Robert Worthington Williams, Liberty Hyde Bailey and Peter Henderson

“ The most successful mode of forming roots is to place the cuttings in a mild bottom-heat, which expedites their growth, even in the case of many hardy plants whose cuttings strike roots in the open soil. With some hard-wooded trees, as the common white-thorn, roots cannot be obtained without bottom-heat. It is a general rule throughout plant culture that the activity of the roots shall be in advance of that of the leaves. Cuttings of deciduous trees and shrubs succeed best if planted early in autumn while the soil still retains the solar heat absorbed during summer. ”

“ Forcing is the accelerating, by special treatment, of the growth of certain plants, which are required to be had in leaf, in flower or in fruit before their natural season,—as, for instance, the leaves of mint at Eastertide or the leafstalks of sea-kale and rhubarb at Christmas, the flowers of summer in the depth of winter, or some of the choicest fruits perfected so much before their normal period as to complete, with the retarded crops of winter, the circle of the seasons. ”

“ All seeds require a certain degree of heat to induce germination. For tropical plants the heat of a propagating house—75° to 80°, with a bottom heat of 80° to 90°—is desirable, and in many cases absolutely necessary; for others, such as half-hardy annuals, a mild hot bed, or a temperate pit ranging from 60° to 70°, is convenient; while of course all outdoor crops have to submit to the natural temperature of the season. It is very important that seeds should be sown when the ground is in a good working condition, and not clammy with moisture. ”

“ Artificial heat applied to the roots, called by gardeners “bottom-heat,” is supplied by fermenting materials such as stable manure, leaves, &c., or by hot-water pipes. In winter the temperature of the soil, out of doors, beyond a certain depth is usually higher than that of the atmosphere, so that the roots are in a warmer and more uniform medium than are the upper parts of the plant. Often the escape of heat from the soil is prevented by “mulching,” i.e. by depositing on it a layer of litter, straw, dead leaves and the like. ”

“ Generally speaking, fruit trees are best transplanted when three or four years of age, in which time they will have acquired the shape given by the nurseryman, who generally transplants his stock each autumn to produce large masses of root fibres. Nowadays, however, quite large trees, chiefly of an ornamental character, and perhaps weighing several tons, are lifted with a large ball of soil attached to the roots, by means of a special tree-lifting machine, and are readily transferred from one part of the garden to another, or even for a distance of several miles, without serious injury. ”

“ By growth is here meant mere increase in bulk, and by development the series of gradual modifications by which a plant, originally simple in its structure and conformation, becomes eventually complicated, and endowed with distinct parts or organs. ”

“ In transplanting smaller subjects, such as plants for the flower garden, much less effort is required. The plant must be lifted with as little injury to its rootlets as possible, and carefully set into the hole, the soil being filled in round it, and carefully pressed close by the hand. For moving small plants the garden trowel is a very convenient tool, but we are inclined to give the preference to the hand-fork. For larger masses, such as strong-growing herbaceous plants, a spade or digging-fork will be requisite and the soil may be trodden down with the feet. ”

“ Vegetable Garden.—If cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce are wanted to plant in cold frames, the seed should be sown from about the 10th to the 20th of this month; but judgment should be exercised, for, if sown too early, cabbage and cauliflower are apt to run to seed. The best date for latitude of New York is September 15th. The main crop of spinach or sprouts that is wanted for winter or spring use should be sown about the same date. The earth should be drawn up to celery with a hoe preparatory to earthing up with a spade. ”

“ So much judgment and experience does the operation call for that it is a truism to say that bad pruning is worse than none. The removal of weakly, sickly, overcrowded and gross infertile shoots is usually, however, a matter about which there can be few mistakes when once the habit of growth and the form and arrangement of the buds are known. Winter pruning is effected when the tree is comparatively at rest, and is therefore less liable to “bleeding” or outpouring of sap. ”

“ By Suckers.—Root suckers are young shoots from the roots of plants, chiefly woody plants, as may often be seen in the case of the elm and the plum. The shoots when used for propagation must be transplanted with all the roots attached to them, care being taken not to injure the parent plant. If they spring from a thick root it is not to be wantonly severed, but the soil should be removed and the sucker taken off by cutting away a clean slice of the root, which will then heal and sustain no harm. ”

“ The reproduction of the higher plants takes place either asexually by the formation of buds or organs answering thereto, or sexually by the production of an embryo plant within the seed. The conditions requisite for the growth, development and reproduction of plants are, in general terms, exposure, at the proper time, to suitable amounts of light, heat and moisture, and a due supply of appropriate food. ”

“ Any who expect to get early cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce or radishes, while planting or sowing is delayed until the time of sowing tomato and egg plant in May, are sure to be disappointed of a full crop. Frequent rotation of crops should be practised in the vegetable garden, in order to head off insects and diseases; and also to make the best use of the land. Every three or four years the vegetable garden should be laid out in some new place; but if this cannot be done, the crops should be rotated on different parts of the old garden. ”

“ The efficiency of drainage, digging, hoeing and like operations is accounted for by the manner in which they promote aeration of the soil, raise its temperature and remove its stagnant water. Owing to their growth in length at, or rather in the immediate vicinity of, their tips, roots are enabled to traverse long distances by surmounting some obstacles, penetrating others, and insinuating themselves into narrow crevices. As they have no power of absorbing solid materials, their food must be of a liquid or gaseous character. ”

“ Horticulture, apart from the mechanical details connected with the maintenance of a garden and its appurtenances, may be considered as the application of the principles of plant physiology to the cultivation of plants from all parts of the globe, and from various altitudes, soils and situations. The lessons derived from the abstract principles enunciated by the physiologist, the chemist and the physicist require, however, to be modified to suit the special circumstances of plants under cultivation. ”

“ There are some few subjects which when forced do not require a light house. Thus amongst flowers the white blossoms of the lilac, so much prized during winter, are produced by forcing purple-flowered plants in darkness. Rhubarb and sea-kale among esculents both need to be forced in darkness to keep them crisp and tender, and mushrooms also are always grown in dark structures. In fact, a roomy mushroom house is one of the most convenient of all places for forcing the vegetables just referred to. ”

“ One of the most important preliminaries to successful forcing is the securing to the plants a previous state of rest. The thorough ripening of the preceding season’s wood in fruit trees and flowering plants, and of the crown in perennial herbs like strawberries, and the cessation of all active growth before the time they are to start into a new growth, are of paramount importance. The ripening process must be brought about by free exposure to light, and by the application of a little extra heat with dryness, if the season should be unfavourable ”

“ Respiration in plants, as in other organisms, is a process that goes on by night as well as by day and consists in plants in the breaking up of the complex carbonaceous substances formed by assimilation into less complex and more transportable substances. This process, which is as yet imperfectly understood, is attended by the consumption of oxygen, the liberation of energy in the form of heat, and the exhalation of carbon dioxide and water vapour. Transpiration is loss of water by the plant by evaporation, chiefly from the minute pores or stomata on the leaves. ”

“ River sand and the sharp grit washed up sometimes by the road side are excellent materials for laying around choice bulbs at planting time to prevent contact with earth which is perhaps manure-tainted. Sea sand may be advantageously used both for propagating purposes and for mixing in composts. For the growth of pot plants sand is an essential part of most composts, in order to give them the needful porosity to carry off all excess of moisture from the roots. If the finer earthy sands only are obtainable, they must be rendered sharper by washing away the earthy particles. ”