PROPAGATION 147 



is immediately after flowering, when the fresh 

 growth is commencing and the sap is most 

 active. Having taken off the rooted pieces in 

 the ways just described, make up a compost, 

 similar to that in which the parent plant is 

 growing, and put each piece in a 2^-inch 

 thumb-pot. It is advisable to put a pinch 

 of sharp silver sand round the roots, for it 

 encourages growth and lessens the chances 

 of their damping off. After planting, keep 

 the pots fairly close in a frame, plunged up 

 to the rim in sand or fine cinders, and keep 

 moderately, but not too moist. They should 

 remain in the frame till they are thoroughly 

 established, and are forming roots, which will 

 be shown by their making growth, and then 

 they may be moved to the open and plunged 

 in a sand or cinder bed. 



It may be taken as a universal rule, to which 

 there is no exception, that all pots containing 

 plants should, when in the open, be sunk up 

 to the rim in either earth, sand, or cinders. 

 The latter two are much to be preferred, for 

 in earth the pots are liable to become water- 

 logged. The object of sinking the pots is to 



