MAKING CUTTINGS 



25 



37. Verbena cutting ready 

 for transplanting. 



exclude the light if the sun strikes it and to prevent 

 too rapid evaporation. The soil should be moist clear 

 through, not on top only. 



66. Loose sandy or gravelly soil is 

 used. Mason's sand is good earth in 

 which to start most cuttings; or fine 

 gravel sifted of most of its earthy 

 matter may be used. Soils that con- 

 tain much decaying organic matter are 

 avoided, for these soils are breeding- 

 places of fungi, which attack the soft 

 cutting and cause it to "damp off," or 

 die at or near the surface of the ground. If the cuttings are 

 to be grown in a window, put three or four inches of the 

 earth in a shallow box or a pan. A soap box cut in two 

 lengthwise, so that it makes a box four or five inches deep 

 like a gardener's flat is excellent. A cutting-bed may 

 be made on a greenhouse bench or in a good shaded window, 

 as in Fig. 36. Cuttings of 

 common plants, as gera- 

 nium, coleus, fuchsia, carna- 

 tion, are kept at a living- 

 room temperature. As long 

 as the cuttings look bright 

 and green, they are in good 

 condition. It may be a 

 month before roots form. 

 When roots have formed, 

 the plants begin to make 

 new leaves at the tip. Then 

 they may be transplanted 

 into other boxes or into 

 pots. The verbena in Fig. 



37 is jUSt ready for trans- 38. Old geranium plant cut back to 



j . . make it throw out shoots from which cut- 



planting. tinKS can be made. 



