79 



Epacris, are very difficult to strike. 

 The usual directions for striking cut- 

 tings are, to put the:u in pure sand, 

 and to cover them with a hell-glass, 

 and this may he done as a precau- 

 tionary method with all cuttings, 

 though it is only essential with those 

 that are difficult to strike. Some 

 cuttings are directed to le made of 

 the old wood, and some of the young 

 tender shoots of the current year : 

 in general, however, the safest plan 

 is, to take off the shoot just below 

 where the young wood is united to 

 that of the previous season, so that 

 a small portion of the old v/cod 

 may remain attached to the cutting. 

 The shoot should be cut off with what 

 gardeners call a clean cut (as, if it be 

 bruised, or left jagged, or uneven, it 

 most probably will not grow) ; and it 

 should be planted in sandy soil, to 

 ensure drainage, as the cutting will 

 rot, or, as gardeners term it, damp 

 off, if water in a stagnant state be 

 suffered to remain round it. "When 

 the cutting is put into the ground, 

 the earth should be made quite firm 

 to its lower end ; as, if any space be 

 left below it, the roots will wither as 

 soon as they shoot forth. Cuttings 

 are considered most likely to succeed 

 when taken from the horizontal 

 branches of the plant nearest the 

 ground ; and r.s least likely to strike 

 root, when taken from the upright 

 shoots at the summit of the plant ; 

 though this rule has many exceptions. 

 A shoot of the soft-wooded kinds, 

 which strike easily, may be divided 

 into several cuttings, all of which 

 will grow ; but with all the hard- 

 wooded kinds, only one cutting must 

 be taken from the tip of each shoot. 

 Shoots which are of the average 

 strength are preferable to those 

 that are either very strong or very 

 weak ; and those are best that have 

 only leaf-buds, and no flower-buds 

 on them. 



Some cuttings which are difficult 

 to strike are directed to have bottom 

 heat. This means, that the pots in 

 which they are planted are to be 

 plunged into a hotbed, that the sti- 

 mulus afforded by the heat may 

 induce the cuttings to throw out 

 roots. Care must, however, be taken 

 that the hotbed is not too hot, as in 

 that case it sometimes burns the 

 tender roots of the cuttings. 



The following are the principal 

 kinds of plants propagated by cut- 

 tings, divided into classes, each of 



FIG. 3. — CUTTING OF ACJkCIA AL.VTA. 



which requires a different treatment. 

 — Soft- wooded greenhouse plants, 

 such as Gei'aniums, Fuchsias, Brug- 

 mansias. Petunias, Verbenas, Tro- 

 pjeolums, ]\Iaurandyas, Sic. These 

 may have cuttings taken off in spring, 

 or at almost any period during 

 summer, and planted ia sandy soil, 

 with or without a glass over them, 

 and with or without bottom heat. 

 They may be considered as the 

 easiest of all cuttings to strike, the 

 principal art consisting in cutting 

 the shoot across, through, or imme- 



