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December ; when plants, that have : 

 about half finished their growth, \ 

 should be selected. The cuttings 

 ought not to be more than an inch , 

 long ; and even shorter cuttings I 

 sometimes strike better. The leaves i 

 must then be clipped off with a small 

 and very sharp -pointed pair of ; 

 scissors, to about half the length of , 

 the cutting, or less ; as the shorter | 



I 



FIG. 0.— CUTTIXG OF AX EPACRIS. 



the shank of the cutting, the quicker 

 it strikes, and there is less chance of 

 its rotting. Great care is necessary 

 in clipping off these leaves, and 

 cutting the cutting across, so as not 

 in the slightest degree to lacerate 

 the bark, for the smallest woxind 

 or laceration will prove fatal to the 

 cutting, by allowing the moisture to 

 enter it, and thus damp it off. This, 

 after all, is perhaps one of the 

 principal reasons why so few, even 

 of gardeners, strike Heath-cuttings 

 well ; for the cuttings being very 

 small and succulent, the operators 

 are seldom suihciently careful in 

 clipping off the leaves with scissors, 

 but cut them off with a knife, resting 

 the cutting on the thumb-nail ; 

 though it is evident, that by this 

 process they cannot make a very 

 clean cut ; and, moreover, that they 

 must bruise the bark, or tear down 

 the petiole of every leaf they cut off. 

 Having prepared the cutting pro- 

 perly, it must be gently taken in 

 the left hand, with a pricker (a 

 knitting-needle answers exceedingly 



well) in the right, wdth which a ; 

 hole is made in the sand to about 

 the depth of the shank of the cut- 

 ting ; the cutting is then placed in ; 

 the hole, and the pricker is again 

 put into the sand, to close the sand 

 round it ; as great care must be 

 taken that no vacuity is left between 

 the sand and the cutting anywhere. 

 As soon as the pots are filled with 

 cuttings, a bell-glass should be put 

 over them, and the pots should be 

 placed on a greenhouse shelf, where 

 the temperature is not lower than . 

 sixty degrees. They will require 

 little attention afterwards : except- I 

 ting now and then when the sun is \ 

 out, or when snow has fallen, to ; 

 shade them from excessive light, 

 and to remove such cuttings as begin ; 

 to rot ; for one rotten cutting, if not 

 taken away immediately, will infect 

 the whole pot, and they will all , 

 damp off in a very little time. If a ! 

 potful of each sort should be more ; 

 than is required, care must be taken j 

 to sort the cuttings out in such a way ■ 

 that the smooth kinds may be placed i 

 together, and the hairy ones, the ' 

 viscid ones, &c., by themselves. | 

 This separation is the more neces- ; 

 sary, as the hairy kinds generally , 

 collect more moisture than the i 

 smooth sorts ; besides the great ! 

 difference of time required to strike, ! 

 them, some of the smooth or gla- ; 

 brous sorts striking in a month, i 

 while some of the viscid ones require } 

 three or four months. "When the j 

 cuttings are made in December, the j 

 greater part of them will be struck i 

 by February or IVIarch, when they j 

 should be carefully potted into { 

 thumb -pots, about half- full of very i 

 fine potsherds, and the other half j 

 filled up with soil composed of equal ; 

 parts of finely-sifted reat and silver \ 

 sand. The plants will now only j 

 require to be kept under the hand- [ 

 glass for a few days, to let them j 



