This section is from the book "The Gardener V2", by William Thomson. Also available from Amazon: The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener.
Cuttings of the root often give better results than other means of propagation. Three plants just occur to me that may readily be increased by cuttings off their thick fleshy roots. Their names are Senecio pulcher, Stokesia cyanea, and lastly, that beautiful fair maid of autumn, Anemone japonica alba. The mode to follow is to dig up the roots from November to February, cut them into l 1/2 inch lengths, and insert them in pans of sandy earth, which may be placed near the light on a shelf in a cool house. Nearly all rare Anemones and many other plants succeed well propagated in this way. When leafy growth and roots are produced, pot off in May, and place in a close frame for a few days; and finally, give air on fine days, and plant out in the end of Jane, or earlier. In this way it is easy to keep up a stock of sturdy, young, free-blooming plants for cut-bloom, or for border or conservatory decoration.
 
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