334 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



ev^er, must be taken in the hot weather if 

 they are to be rooted successfully. The af- 

 ter treatment of the single joint cutting will 

 be the same as recommended for the mossed 

 cuttings. 



Terminal Cuttings. — These cuttings and 

 the method of taking them differs very little 

 — except so far as the strong growth of the 

 Ficus necessitates — from a geranium or al- 

 most any ordinary cutting or slip. The cut- 

 ting may possibly be a little shorter than 

 that recommended for mossing, especially 

 if the growth of the cutting is short and 

 close jointed. The leaves of these should 

 be tied up fairly close together and inserted 

 in sand, one in a three or four inch pot, 

 and the cutting securely staked. The stak- 

 ing is a very necessary part of the oper- 

 ation, as the weight of the leaves may 

 cause the cutting to move or shift about in 

 the'sand and thus prevent its rooting. The 

 same position, etc., will suit these as re- 

 commended for single joint cuttings. Of- 

 tentimes short cuttings can be taken from 

 the large branches of an old plant with what 



is known as a "heel" attached. This 

 "heel " is simply a small piece of the stem, 

 from which the cutting is growing taken off", 

 with the cutting as shown in Fig. 2368. If 

 these kind of cuttings can be obtained they 

 will, as a rule, root more readily than the 

 terminal or plain cuttings before mentioned. 

 Terminal cuttings should be cut off near to 

 and close below a leaf joint, as they strike 

 more readily than if severed mid-way be- 

 tween the leaf joints. 



I have recently had several letters from 

 su'bscribers to the Horticulturist, asking for 

 information respecting the propagation of 

 the Ficus elastica, hence my reason for 

 writing such a lengthy paper on this sub- 

 ject. I may, however, say in conclusion 

 that the method of mossing cuttings as de- 

 scribed for the Ficus, can be successfully 

 applied to other plants, more especially to 

 the tall and overgrown stems of Dracenas 

 and Cordylines, that have a natural habit of 

 becoming tall and unsightly looking as dec- 

 orative plants. 



FEUIT CEOP NOTES 



The Winnipeg papers are making the 

 most of the report of the Fruit Inspector in 

 the Northwest, who repeats the story that 

 Ontario has been losing the trade of the 

 Northwest on account of bad packing. We 

 would like to hear something from the 

 Ontario fruit growers on this Northwest 

 trade. 



Apple growers, in anticipation of a some- 

 what larger crop than usual, should provide 

 ample storage. Boards of Trade and Fruit 

 Growers' Associations can do no better work 

 than encourage the building of farm and 

 general storage houses and the establishment 

 of evaporators. 



House cellar storage is not usually very 

 successful with apples. The fact is we 

 want a cooler temperature than is usually 

 obtained in a house cellar. A cellar under 

 an out-door building that can be opened 

 cold nights and closed during the day is 

 much more successful. 



Reports come from Nova Scotia that the 

 unusually ?oo' winds in May and June and 

 the ravages of the Bud Moth will make the 

 apple crop small in quantity and inferior in 

 quality this year. J. W. Bigelow, of the 

 Provincial P>uit Growers' Association esti- 

 mates the Nova Scotia crop at 200,000 bar- 

 rels for shipment. 



