200 ON PROPAGATING HALF HARDY AND SOFT WOODED PLANTS. 



with, a bottom heat substituted, in place of them ; in Mr. Phail's 

 method, cuttings are forced in a comparatively short time to send 

 out roots, and though a few cloudy days together may seem to 

 argue against it, no bad effect, from such a cause, has ever fallen 

 under my notice. In selecting cuttings for this mode of culture, 

 I use only young, or at most half ripened cuttings, detaching 

 them with the hand from the parent plant when practicable, and 

 after trimming off a few of the large leaves, I insert the heel, or 

 lower joint of the cutting; I give the frame a full south aspect, 

 and raise it a few inches as directed for pinks ; I allow only two 

 or three inches between the top of the cuttings and the glass, and 

 give them no air till they have given evident proofs of their 

 having struck root, I shade the sash with several folds of net, 

 pieces of paper, or a thin mat, removing it between four or five 

 in the afternoon ; on giving a good watering at planting I find 

 very little more suffices them for the first fortnight, owing to 

 the sash being kept close down ; when rooted, I increase the air 

 gradually. I have used frames of all sizes, from one of six inches 

 by nine, to one of six feet in length, and except that I find it 

 more difficult to equalize the temperature in a small frame, I 

 find little difference in the success of the cuttings. I must add, 

 however, that a large sash requires the shading to be a little 

 closer than a small one. If a mixed collection of cuttings is to 

 be put into the same frame, they should consist of such as re- 

 quire about the same time to strike root, and by mixing up a 

 compost of light loam, vegetable mould, or peat and sand, under 

 the treatment detailed above, a good many kinds may be propa- 

 gated in the same frame. 



Before concluding, I beg leave to enumerate a few of such 

 sorts as yield most readily to this mode of treatment, and such as 

 I have propagated for the last three years. Pinks, Carnations, 

 Geraniums, (tricolor included,) Sollyas, Myrtles, Cistuses, Calce- 

 olarias shrubby and herbaceous, Fuchsias, Pansies, Salvias, 

 Verbenas, Lophospermums, Petunias, &c, from the certainty 

 and facility, with which the above and many other plants of si- 

 milar habits may be propagated, I have no hesitation in recom- 

 mending the method to any of your readers who may feel in- 

 clined to try it, and I have every reason to think, if they try it 

 once with cuttings, and subject those cuttings when potted, to 

 similar treatment for about ten days, they will be induced to try 

 the same method again. 



Wm. St. Clair, 





