750 CHAPTERS ON PROPAGATING. [April 



Coniferse and holly cuttings must have protection of some kind 

 from the exhausting effects of the atmosphere. They will not 

 endure the alternations of heat and cold and drought and wet which 

 are inseparable from unmitigated exposure. In well-appointed 

 nurseries, where these tilings are reared by thousands, there is 

 usually a properly constructed propagating house, with heating 

 apparatus attached, so that a little heat may be applied at will for 

 the purpose of driving off excessive moisture, and finally, after the 

 cuttings are well callused, to assist them in the process of rooting. 

 But though essential to the highest success, this can be dispensed 

 with when only small quantities are required of each sort. There 

 are many expedients and appliances suitable for moderate opera- 

 tions. Hand-glasses and cold frames are excellent in their way, 

 when placed in a suitable position, which in order to be so should 

 be dry, and with an aspect on which the sun cannot fall during the 

 hottest hours of the day. The frame or handlight should be filled 

 with a suitable compost, light, sandy, and level, so that it may take 

 water equally all over, and it should be beaten firm with a spade or 

 brick before planting. I have found cocoa-nut fibre refuse mixed 

 with sand the best material for this class of cuttings, and for many 

 things that are much more difficult to do. Its equable retention of 

 moisture and temperature, and its eminently friable condition, 

 along with its cleanness and freedom from fungoid developments, 

 even when it is undergoing decomposition, render it the most 

 favourable medium in which to root cuttings which take some 

 considerable time in the process. The frame or handlight will 

 require to be kept close during the first few months after the 

 cuttings are planted, merely opening them occasionally during the 

 mornings of fine days to let off superfluous moisture. They must 

 be protected from frost, and in spring and summer from hot sun- 

 light, and they must be watered as often as they appear to require 

 it, bearing in mind that drought is the greatest obstacle to success. 

 Dead leaves and damp cuttings should never be allowed to 

 accumulate, and the first signs of damping or fogging, which may 

 appear among cuttings of small conifera3, such as lletinosporas and 

 Biotas, should be promptly arrested by the removal of the affected 

 parts and a change of treatment. This disorder is caused by 

 stagnation of atmosphere and superabundance of moisture, and a 

 little more liberal ventilation and a more sparing use of the 

 watering-pot overhead will quickly arrest it. 



