80 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



THE MULTIPLICATION OF PLANTS PROM CUTTINGS. 



{Extracted from " The Amateur's Floiver Garden."*) 



Y far the greater proportion of plants that are multiplied 

 by cuttings require artificial heat. Nevertheless, 

 cuttings of many tender plants may be struck in the 

 open ground, or in pots and in frames, without heat, 

 during summer, and in every case the mode of procedure 

 is nearly the same. Very much of what we have to say will be 

 applicable to summer propagation without artificial heat, though our 

 business is more directly with the propagation of plants in spring by 

 means of the heat of a tank or a hot-bed, because that system must 



be resorted to with many bedding plants, 

 and requires more care than propagating 

 in the open ground during summer. We 

 must suppose the heat to be sufficient and 

 constant. If from fermenting material, 

 there should be a large body of it in a 

 nicely-tempered state. There is nothing 

 so good as a tank, for the operator has thus 

 complete command over his work, and can 

 enjoy the comfort of a warm house while 

 attending to his duties. As a rule, a 

 bottom-heat of 60° to 70° will suffice for 

 all kinds of bedding plants that are struck 

 from cuttings. A temperature of 80° to 

 90° may be used by persons who have 

 had much experience, but 70° should be 

 the maximum for beginners. 



Plants to be propagated from in spring 

 should be in a free-growing state, because 

 the best cuttings are those of shoots newly 

 formed, and the worst those from shoots of last year. If therefore 

 the plants are not freely growing, the propagator must wait for 

 them ; and to promote free growth, the temperature of the house 

 should be kept at from 60° to 70°, with a moderate amount of 

 atmospheric moisture, and as much light as possible, so that the 

 young shoots will be of a healthy green, and with short joints. 

 Suppose we look over a lot of fuchsias that have been some time in 

 a warm house, we shall find them full of little stubby side-shoots all 

 ready to hand, without demanding any particular skill to remove 

 them. Select one of these plump shoots, of an inch or an inch and 

 a half long, press the thumb against it, and it will snap away " with a 

 heel " — that is, with a thickened base, the separation taking place at 

 the point where it issues out of the old wood. When you have removed 

 it, it will probably have such an appearance as in the subjoined figure. 

 All that this requires for its preparation is to remove the bud which 



* "The Amateur's Flower Garden." By Shirley Hibberd. Price 6s. 

 Groonibridge and Sons, London. 



CUTTING OF FUCHSIA. 



