CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - Pole Shift Survival Information

410 THE N URSERY-M.4 N UA L
Rheum (Rhubarb. Pi+Plant. FVine-!‘lant) . Po!j/~oan.cea?.
Propa.gat& by seeds and by divixion. Each division should
contain at kast one l)utl or eye, with as much rhizome and root as
pos~il)lc. S;CW~S 1k1:i~v 1~ sown where the plants are to stand, but will
not rr~protfucc thcb varieties, and three years are required for the
plants to mature.
Rhipsalis. C’wfmw.
Cuttings, after having been dried a few days, should be inserted
in coarse ~8 nd. See C’rtrf i, page 261.
Rhododendron. ~~~im-~w.
Seccl~ ;Iro 1:1rgt~l>~ employed, but t,hey arr small and light, and
mlist 1~ carcfull\V handled. They arc sown in spring in pans or
l)osr~ in :i soil of sand>r peat, care being taken to cover them very
lightl>* ilntl not to tli$lodFe them when applying water. They are
h:1n(lk~l in coldframes or m a cool house, and the young plants must
1~) sllitded. The plants arc commonly allowed to remain a year in
tlw hoses.
‘1’1~~ seeds should 1~ sown in prepared boxes, half filled wit,h
rcwks or ashes, on which is placed a mixture of petit, leaf soil and
sikrl(l ; on top place a thin layer, about. one-eighth inch, of finely sifted
moss. ‘It-ater well and sow the seed on the top of the moss. If
kept shaclc~l and tilcb moss never allowed to become dry, the seeds
gerrnin;tte readil>r in almut five weeks. Sown ttie third week in
,Ji~nu:lr~ t\ley art’ rt~il(l>~ to transplant in a peaty mixture b)- June.
‘l’ran~plant :~bout one inch apart in boxes four inches deep, with a
slight, (fritinage at the bottom. These plants will be ready to
plant out-of-doors in frames the following May. Three inches of
grojvth are obtained with some species eight months after the
scerl i5 ~owti.
Low-growing plants are often layered. Cuttings of growing wood,
cut to :I heel, art’ sometimes employed, being made in summer and
handlccl in a fralile, but the percentage of rooted plants is oftensmall.
Khoclodentlrons ;irc extensively grafted, the veneer method being
most u~ci. Ti ~1 operation is performed on potted plants in late
sunlnlt’r or earl?- fall, or sometimes in a cool house in early spring.
1Iost of thcb k;t~x~~ are allowed to remain on the cion. The plants are
then l~li~c~~(l in tlr~~c~ly shaded cool frames (Fig. 4’3, and are nearly
covtlrc(l with sphagnum. J’arious stocks are cmplo)Ted, but for
se\-c’rc’ clinlatc::< thch hardy species, like I?. crrtn&ir~r and R. mct.&
31u1)2, are probably best. I(. po~~fic2m is extensively used in Europe,