746 CHAPTERS ON PROPAGATING. [April 



seen was the empty cases, while others had just been killed by 

 tearing out the hinder body. MilliiDedes, like si^iders, devour only 

 the soft contents of the insect ; the indigestible horny casing they 

 leave where they found it. Another time Keller observed on an 

 elm, which had been badly attacked by Scolytus Gcoffroyi, numerous 

 dead specimens of this plague, and these, too, Lithohius had rifled 

 of their contents. A wood of Pinus cemhra, in the neighbourhood of 

 Davos, supplied Keller with material for a third observation. In 

 this compartment there was at the same time split wood for 

 burning piled up, as well as whole stems laid on the ground ; and 

 most of this timber was much infested with Bostrychus ccmhrcv, the 

 bark beetle of the ccmhran pine. On scaling off pieces of bark there 

 were to be seen alongside of the living beetles many empty shells. 

 Keller detected one stone- creeper in the act of feeding on a ccmhran 

 bark beetle, so that therefore there is no doubt but that the 

 millipedes must be enrolled as a new order among the number of 

 those living creatures which are useful to the forests. — CcntralUatt 

 fur das gesammte Forstirescn. 



CHAPTEBS ON PBOPAGATING. 



BY A NUESERYMAN. 



PKOPAGATING by Cuttings. — The art of increasing stocks of 

 plants by means of cuttings is an old one, but its develop- 

 ment has been slow as regards its application to the more difficult 

 classes of plants, such as Cape heaths and New^ Holland plants. 

 Indeed, the propagating of these and other similarly intractable 

 subjects is even now somewhat of a sealed art, almost exclusivel}' 

 possessed by that important personage in every complete nurseiy 

 establishment — the professional propagator. Fortunately, most of 

 the subjects with which the forester ordinarily has to deal are easy 

 of management, and require the use of no very special facilities in 

 the way of propagating houses and other adjuncts which are indis- 

 pensable when the operations include a wide range of subjects. 



The rationale of the process is based on the inherent power of 

 almost any part of a plant to form roots and establish itself, when 

 by accident or intention it is detached from the parent stem. This 

 vital power is possessed in a much larger degree by some plants 

 than by others ; many have it in such a high degree, that their, 

 roots, stems, branches, leaves, and flower stems, if chopped up, will 

 in favourable circumstances form independent plants. Incidentally 



