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THE t&OPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[AUGl/Sf I, 1882, 



fully taken up, iu the operatiou of potting the delicate 

 roots are nearly as liable to wilt as the unrooted cut- 

 tings. Outtiugs should always he placed iu small pots, the 

 best size being from two to two aud a half inches wide 

 and deep ; if placed iu larger pots the soil dries out too 

 slowly, aud the tender root, imbedded too long iu a mass 

 of wet soil, rots and the plant dies. Though we generally 

 prefer soil to be unsifted in potting large plants yet for 

 newly potted cuttings it is better to be sifted fine, uot 

 only that it is more congenial thus to the young roots, 

 but also that the operation is quicker done Avith finely- 

 sifted soil. After potting, tho cuttings are placed on 

 benches covered with an inch or so of sand, watered 

 freely with a fine rose watering-pot, and shaded for four 

 or five days; by that time they will have begun to root, 

 when no further shading is necessary. These methods of 

 propagating by cuttings are such as are now practised by 

 commercial flori.sts, but for amateurs in horticulture, or 

 gardeners who have charge of private greenhouses, there 

 is usually no necessity for a regular propagating house, 

 unless the requirements for plants are unusually large, as the 

 " Saucer Si/^teai " of propagation will answer every pur- 

 pose, and it is the safest of all methods in inexperienced 

 hands. We were, we believe, the first to introduce this 

 system some twenty years ago, and here repeat the direc- 

 tions first given iu one of the horticultui'al journals at that 

 ■ time. " Common saucers or plates are used to hold the 

 sand in which the cuttings are placed. This sand is put 

 iu to the depth of an inch or so, and the cuttings inserted 

 in it close enough to touch each other. The sand is then 

 watered until it becomes iu the condition of mud, and 

 placed on the shelf of the greenhouse, or on the window- 

 sill of the sitting-room or parlor, fully exposed to the sun, 

 and never shaded. But one condition is essential to suc- 

 cess : until the cuttings become rooted the sand must he 

 kept coniinuaUy saturated^ and kept in the condition of mvd \ 

 if once allowed to dry up, exposed to the suu as they are, 

 the cuttings will quickly wilt, aud the whole operation will 

 be defeated. The rules previously laid down for the pro- 

 per condition of the cuttings are the same in this case, 

 and those for the temperature nearly so ; although, by 

 the saucer system, a higher temperature can be maintained 

 without injm'y, as the cuttings are in reality placed in 

 water, and will not droop at the same temperatm'e as if 

 the sand was kept in the regular condition of moisture 

 maintained in the propagating bench. Still, the detached 

 slip, untU rooted, will not endm-e a continuation of excessive 

 heat , so that we advise, as we do in the regular method 

 of propagating, that the attempt should not be made to 

 root cuttings in this way, in this latitude, iu the months 

 of June, July, or August, imlcss with plants of a tropical 

 nature. AATien the cuttings are rooted, they shoidd be potted 

 in small pots, and treated carefully by shading and water- 

 ing for a few days, as previously directed." 



Fropac/ation hi/ Laijei-im/. — Although laj^ering maybe done 

 with the ripened wood of vines or shrub.s of the growth 

 of the previous season, yet it is preferable to use the shoot 

 of the present year in its half green .state : for example, 

 a rose or flowering .shrub is pruned in the usual way in 

 spring ; by June or July it will have made strong shoots 

 one, two or three feet in length from or near the base of 

 the plant. Take the shoot then in the left hand (after 

 having stripped it of its leaves for a few inches on each 

 side of where it is to be cut), keep the fingers under the 

 shoot, and make a clean cut on the upper 2'art, an inch 

 or so in length, and to about half the thickness of the 

 shoot, then slightly twist the "tongue "or cut part to one 

 side. Having opened a shallow trench, fasten the branch 

 down with a hooked peg, and cover with earth. It is a good 

 plan to place a flat stone over the layer to prevent the 

 soil from drying out. This plan of cutting the shoot on 

 the upper side we have never seen in illustrations showing 

 the manner of layering, it being usually either on the side 

 or under ; but we have found in practice that it is much 

 the safest plan, as the " tongue,'' when cut on the top part 

 of the shoot, has far less chance to be broken off. 



rropagation hi/ laifering in pots is the process of layer- . 

 ing shoots or runners of i)lants in pots, so that, when 

 the root forms in the pot, the plant can be detached 

 without injury to it, as the roots are confined exclusively 

 to the soil in the pot. Layering plants iu pots can be 

 ^oue with roses, vines, or shrubs of any kind, with always 



more certainty of maldng a plant quicker than by the 

 ordinary way of layering the shoot in the soil. This sys- 

 tem of propagating strawberries has been largely practised 

 during the past ten years iu the United States, and is 

 now a favorite method. For details, see Strawberry, p. 221. 



Propagation by Lai/eritiy in the Air. — About twenty years 

 ago we published a method of propagating geraniums, that, 

 we believe, originated with us, and which we called, for 

 want of a better term, " Layering in the Air." It consists 

 in tonguing the shoot to be used as a cutting half through 

 with a knife, as in the ordinary layering ; the shoot so 

 treated formed granulations, or " callus," on the cut surface, 

 and was in a condition to form roots immediately on be- 

 ing detached aud put into the earth. A year or two ago 

 we bethought ourselves of our long-forgotten plan of "layer- 

 in the air," but this time we improved upon the former 

 way of doing it. Instead of tonguing the shoot to be 

 used for a cutting, as before, it was merely snapped short 

 off at a point where the condition of the shoot or slip 

 would make it hang on to the plant by the merest shred 

 of bark. Slight as this strip of bark is, it is sufficient 

 to sustain the cutting, without any material injury from 

 wilting, until it foi'nis the " callus," or granulated con- 

 dition, which precedes the formation of roots. The cut- 

 ting, or slip may be detached in from ten to twelve days 

 after it has been broken in the manner de.scribed, and then 

 potted in two or three inch pots. If watered and shaded 

 rather less than required by ordinary cuttings, it will form 

 roots in ten or twelve days more, and not more than two 

 per per cent, will fail. Plants of the tricolor geraniums, 

 which all know are difficult to root under the ordinary 

 modes of propagation, particularly in hot weather, do ex- 

 cellently by this plan. 



The advantage of this method is not only that the slips 

 root with far greater facility, but the injury to the stock 

 or mother plants is far less than if the slips had been cut 

 clean off instead of being only pai-tly detached. Many other 

 plants can be thus propagated with safety, notably Begonias, 

 Petunias, Poinsettias, and such plants, the cuttings of wliich 

 have a tendency to damp in hot weather. 



Chakred Brak for Preserving Wrvvt. — The 

 Scientific American writes: — "The use of charred 

 bran tor preserving delicate fruit while on the road 

 to market, bids fair to solve the problem which 

 hris so long perplexed our millers. Converted into 

 charcoal, the light and slippery product of the 

 mills ceases to be unmanageable ; and it is quite 

 likelj' that a large local demand for charred bran 

 will arise in the vicinity of most mills for packing 

 not only quickly perishable frxiits like peaches, 

 plums, aud grapes, but also apples and others firmer 

 fruits, for storage as well as for transportation. " It 

 is probable that charred bran would answer equally 

 well for packing tea seed. The experiment would 

 certainly be worth the trial. — Indian Tea Gazette, 



Cocoa Plants for Easterx Colonies, — In an ofEoi- 

 al report on the subject, Mr, Prejtoe, the Govern- 

 ment Botanist at Trinidad, remarks : -" The best 

 kinds are by no means well-known. Indeed, with 

 the majority of growers here they are not known at 

 all, and tiny never notice a difference iu the character 

 of the tre^-s nor that of the sample, of produce, ex- 

 cept in respect of CalabaciUo, or ' wild ' cocoa, and 

 this tliey very rarely eliminate. In the wr ole range 

 of varieties, however, there is a difference in the 

 value^yield of at least ono 10 five. Under these cir- 

 cumstances, the value of the cocoa plants now for- 

 warded should be regarded as of rather a botanical 

 or scieutilic naUire, than as an agricultural or eco- 

 nomic one, for immediate effect, for the varieties being 

 separated and descric-bed, as far as it is practical, to 

 have them, there is a base for experiments, and 

 tests as to what are their real chancters, ;ind what 

 may be done with them in the way of improvement." 

 — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



