560 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



The reason for the adoption of these expedients being known, .heir necessity 

 in individual cases will readily be understood. The greatest care is required 

 in the case of young, tender cuttings, and the least with those of matured 

 wood. Cuttings of the latter frequently succeed when planted in the open 

 air without further care or attention. On the other hand, a young succulent 

 cutting, furnished with one or more leaves, must be carefully guarded against 

 excess of light and aridity. Shading from bright sun will be required to pre- 

 vent the foliage from wilting, and its surroixnding atmosphere must be suffi- 

 ciently moist to prevent evaporation from its surfaces. 



The great stimulants of vegetable life are heat, air, light, and moisture, and in 

 the management of cuttings these agents must be i-egulated with care and precision. 



Under certam conditions, cuttings will grow and produce a few leaves with- 

 out any attempt at the formation of roots, while under different circumstances 

 the same kind of cuttings will produce roots without indicating the slightest 

 symptoms of bud-growth. Heat is the active stimulant of the vital forces of 

 plants, and when the atmosphere by which they are surrounded is of a com- 

 paratively higher temperature than the soil in A\hich they are placed, the 

 branches are excited before the roots receive any impulse. On the contrary, 

 when the soil is warmer than the air, the root-forming process will be active, 

 although the branches show no indication of growth. Of course neither of 

 these conditions can continue exclusively for any lengthened period, for with- 

 out a reciprocal action all growth will, in time, cease. These effects are fre- 

 quently illustrated in tree-planting in spring. Towards the latter portion of 

 spring and the early part of summer the air is many degrees warmer than the 

 soil ; the heated atmosphere excites the buds, and leaves are developed ; but 

 the recently disturbed roots in the colder soil have not yet been excited, and 

 are not in a state to supply the demands of the foliage, the juices of the tree 

 are soon exhausted, and the promised healthy growth is suddenly and hope- 

 lessly checked. 



The mtiin point of consideration, therefore, in the management of cuttings, 

 so far as mere application of heat is concerned, is to stimulate into action tlie 

 processes carried on in the vessels of the cutting inserted in the soil while the 

 upward bud-growth is retarded. This is secui'ed by heating the soil, and not 

 heating the air. The rule is that cuttings should be kept in an atmospherical 

 temperature as low as the nature of the plant will allow, and the soil in which 

 they are inserted should be warmed as high as the roots will endure. The 

 more completely these conditions are maintained the greater the certainty of 

 success, and with ordinary care few failures need occur. 



" Bottom heat," as it is termed, or a warming of the soil, may be attained 

 by various means. Those whose requirements are extensive usually have a 

 structure specially fitted to the purposes of propagation, Avhere the soil is 

 heated by hot water either in pipes, or wooden or cement tanks. The latter 

 mode is, perhaps, the best; but where the quantity desired is limited to the 

 wants of an ordinary flower garden or greenhouse, no special structure need 

 be necessary. A small hot-bed, with frame, will afford considerable conve- 

 nience ; and those who have a greenhouse may form one of the best propa- 

 gating shelves by enclosing a portion of the heating channel, whether Hue or 

 pipes, at the warmest end, so as to form a tight chamber, with the heater pass- 

 ing through it. Usually there is a front shelf in greenhouses over the heating 

 apparatus, so that by simply enclosing a space below it, an air-chamber will be 

 formed, where the heat will collect and warm a bed of sand or soil laid on the 

 shelf. For all ordinary purposes this will be found sufficient, and the space 

 can be enlai'ged to suit the wants of the propagator. 



WILLIAM SAUNDERS. 



Hon. Isaac Newton, 



Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture. 



