PROPAGATION. 95 



Choose a shaded and sheltered site where during 

 the hottest part of the day a tree or wall casts genial 

 shade, and in rough weather protects from cutting 

 winds. Any corner of the garden will do, provided a 

 good bed is made up that is well drained and the soil 

 enriched with loam, leaf mould and sand, to the depth 

 of about a foot. If sand cannot be procured in quan- 

 tity, some fine sharp road grit should be dug in and 

 a little sand secured to lay along the bottom of the 

 trench which you will dig for your cuttings. 



Some growers are conterrt to insert the Cuttings 

 in line with a dibber, but it is not so good as opening 

 up a small trench seven to eight inches deep, and cut- 

 ting your edge straight down. Place a little sand 

 along the bottom of the trench, or sand and leaf mould, 

 and then stand your cuttings upright at intervals of 

 two inches apart, and fill in, firming the soil with your 

 foot all along the line. It is absolutely necessary that 

 the soil be made very firm round all the cuttings; in- 

 deed, this is essential to their success. Keep nine 

 inches between the rows, and this will give all the 

 space required. In preparing your cuttings for grow- 

 ing in the open, select well-ripened wood of present 

 year's growth, and in cutting off your shoot try and 

 get a heel of old wood to it, or if this is not possible, 

 take it off at a joint in the wood from which another 

 shoot or branch is growing, when two cuttings can be 

 securerd. A heel is necessary for success, although 

 cuttings can be made of ripened wood cut to and just 

 below a bud, but only a moderate percentage grow, 

 excepting the more rampant climbers, which are easily 

 struck. Let your cuttings for planting in the open be 

 about nine inches in length ; carefully remove all the 

 thorns and also leaves, if any, except the leaves to the 

 top two, three or four eyes which must remain. In 

 planting, only three or four eyes at most should be left 

 showing above ground, the rest of the eyes, which 

 should be left in and not be removed with a knife, will 

 be below the ground. 



It may at first seem that we are planting our cut- 

 tings rather close together, but this is not the case, 



