IN FLORIDA 29 



a span roof and run north and south, or a lean-to and run east 

 and west facing the south. A concrete wall six inches thick is 

 built facing both sides of the trench, leaving a passageway two 

 feet wide the length of the pit. This should be carried up at 

 intervals of perhaps six feet in the form of posts to support side 

 benches and the roof. It is best to make the benches of rein- 

 forced concrete, since nothing below the surface of the ground 

 can then decay. The roof can be made of sashes which should 

 be hinged above and lifted below for ventilation. It needs a 

 door in one end and steps to descend to it. If one of the benches 

 or a part of it is screened off in front with fertilizer sacks during 

 cold weather and one or more lamps or a small oil stove is put 

 in and lighted a fine bottom heat may be kept up, furnishing ideal 

 conditions for rooting cuttings, starting seeds, or for small or 

 delicate plants. There should be a pipe or some kind of a venti- 

 lator leading from this space out to the open air. Such a building 

 may be ten feet wide over all. Of course one can build a regular 

 glass house with hot water pipes if he wishes. 



It is always well to keep in such a place one or more extra 

 plants of rare, tender things. If one cannot have any kind of a 

 propagating house he can put in cuttings or sow seeds in flats or 

 shallow boxes, either in the house or a sheltered, partly shaded 

 place. It is almost absolutely necessary that such a propagating 

 arrangement should be protected from all wind. 



A majority of the plants which succeed in the latitude of Flor- 

 ida when planted in the open, bear seeds which will germinate 

 and produce healthy seedlings, and in general raising plants by 

 such means is the quickest and best way to propagate. Young 

 seedlings need some sun and the boxes in which they are grown 

 should be turned around occasionally to keep them from being 

 drawn. It is best when they have three or four leaves to trans- 

 plant them into separate pots, or tin cans having a hole punched 

 in the bottom will do. From pots they can be turned out with- 

 out greatly disturbing the ball of earth around their roots. If 

 in a can, it should be struck against some hard object several 

 times to loosen the contents. 



One is likely to receive the seeds of tropical plants at any time 

 during the winter and such seeds, as a rule, should be planted at 



