70 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



perature is higher these temperatures cannot be main- 

 tained. 



Sand is the best medium in which to place cuttings; 

 color or texture is of no special importance. What we 

 use is the ordinary sand used by builders; this is laid on 

 the hot-bed or bench of the green-house to the depth of 

 about three inches and firmly packed down. When 

 " bottom heat " is wanted, the flue or pipes under the 

 bench of the green-house are boarded in, so that the heat 

 strikes the bottom of the bench, thus raising the temper- 

 ature in the sand. We prefer the bottom of the bench to 

 be of slate, as it is a better conductor than boards; but 

 in the absence of slate boards will answer. 



From the time the cuttings are inserted in the sand 

 until they are rooted, they should never be allowed to get 

 dry; in fact, our practice is to keep the sand soaked with 

 water until the cutting is just on the point of emitting 

 roots, the cutting bench being watered copiously every 

 morning, and often, when the atmosphere is dry, again 

 in the evening, (when the green-house is artificially 

 heated.) Kept thus saturated, there is less chance of 

 the cutting getting wilted, either by heat from the 

 sun or from fire heat; for if a cutting once gets wilted, 

 its juices are expended, and it becomes in the condition 

 of a hard cutting, .the condition in which, when bent, it 

 will not snap nor break, which has already been described. 

 To avoid this wilting or flagging of the cutting, every 

 means that will suggest itself to the propagator is to be 

 used. Our practice is to shade and ventilate in the prop- 

 agating house or hot-bed just as soon in the forenoon 

 as the action of the sun's rays on the glass raises the 

 temperature of the house to 65 ' J or 70. Of course, 

 in hot weather the temperature cannot be thus lowered, 

 and for this reason the propagation of plants is a diflfi- 



