SOFT-WOOD CUTTINGS AND TREATMENT 69 



commended for growing seedlings, filling them with clean, sharp sand and 

 giving them bottom heat by a hot bed or protection in a cold frame, as will 

 be described in the next chapter. Soft-wood cuttings should be short, 

 about three inches in length, planted not less than two-thirds their length 

 in the sand. There should always be left at least the half of a leaf, and in 

 some cases one or two leaves will not be too many. Shading from the 

 bright sun will be necessary to prevent wilting, and the surrounding atmos- 



Soft Wood or Herbaceous Cutting. 



phere must be sufficiently moist to prevent evaporation from the surfaces 

 of the leaves. The cuttings should be set in rows about an inch apart and 

 thoroughly soaked with water when set. Afterward water must be used 

 with extreme care, because of liability to rot the cuttings. This is pre- 

 vented by cautious watering and by increasing the heat which hastens the 

 growth processes. Cuttings may be watered well daily for six or seven days, 

 until they have well healed over, then water should be withheld until the 

 sand becomes dry on top, and then resumed and continued at longer in- 

 tervals. 



Soft wood Cuttings will begin to root in from eight to ten days; hard 

 wood cuttings in double that time. Soft wood cuttings can be rooted at 

 almost any time of the year, when the proper wood is to be found and the 

 necessary temperature can be secured. 



Some amateurs have found the following arrangement for cuttings on 

 a small scale satisfactory : Take two flower pots one two inches greater 

 in diameter than the other. Put sand in the bottom of the larger pot until 



