226 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



ated shoot is soft enough, it may be cut into sections of one 

 or two inches in length. 



In making cuttings, preparatory to being inserted in the 

 sand of the bench, it is of no importance whatever to cut 

 immediately below a joint, as three out of every four of 

 the gardeners we meet still think necessary. 



In making cuttings, our custom is entirely the reverse 

 of that practice, as we cut usually as much below a joint 

 as the cutting is inserted in the sand, — generalby some- 

 thing less than an inch. This is done as a matter of 

 economy, both of time and material, as it is much quicker 

 done, and more cuttings can be so obtained than by cut- 

 ting at a joint ; they are also easier planted in the sand : 

 for in putting in cuttings of any kind we never use a 

 " dibber," we merely push the cutting down to the first 

 leaf, when hard enough to bear it ; when too soft, lines 

 are marked out in the sand by a thin knife, so that the 

 soft cuttings may be inserted without injury ; they are 

 then watered with a fine rose, which compacts the sand 

 sufficiently firm. 



I now come to what I have long considered as the only 

 " secret " of successful propagation, namely, the temper- 

 ature ; very simple to give a rule for, but still somewhat 

 difficult to keep to that rule without too much variation. 



Soft cuttings, or cuttings of the young wood, should 

 have a bottom heat of from 65° to 75°, and the atmosphere 

 of the house should be always, when practicable, from 10° 

 to 15° lower. If this is strictly adhered to, you are Just 

 as certain of a crop of healthy rooted cuttings, in from 

 ten to twenty days, as you would be of a crop of Peas or 

 Radishes in May. But once let these conditions be deviated 



