Commercial Gardening 



Fig. 62. Begonia Gloire de Lorraine : Stem Cutting 



In some cases (e.g. Heaths, Epacris) 

 great care is exercised to encourage 

 roots to develop. The pots or pans in 

 which the cuttings are to be inserted 

 are carefully drained with clean crocks 

 to within an inch or so of the rim, and 

 a compost consisting of 1 part peat and 

 3 parts silver sand is used for the cut- 

 tings. Glasses are placed over them for 

 some weeks, to keep a moist atmosphere 

 around them, and each day superfluous 

 moisture is wiped from the glasses to 

 prevent injurious dripping on the cut- 

 tings. The cuttings of such plants as 

 Zonal Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Calceo- 

 larias, Dahlias, Begonias (fig. 62), 

 Phloxes, Pentstemons, Snapdragons, 

 Carnations, Pinks, Lobelias, Aucubas, 

 Roses, Heliotropes, Euonymus, Golden 

 Privet, Skimmias, and many others root 

 readily in any ordinary garden compost of a somewhat gritty nature if 



kept shaded from brilliant sunshine, and 

 occasionally sprinkled overhead when 

 there is a tendency for the air to become 

 too dry. 



Woody Cutting's. Many hardy trees 

 and shrubs may be raised from leafless 

 cuttings of the well-ripened young shoots. 

 The best time to take these cuttings is 

 about the end of October and during 

 November, although many will also root 

 freely if taken in spring just when the 

 sap is beginning to rise. With hard- 

 wooded cuttings the basal half, being the 

 ripest or most mature, makes the best cut- 

 ting, and if taken with a "heel" of the 

 older wood attached it is almost certain 

 to root. The cuttings vary from 1 in. or 

 more to 1 ft. in length, and the larger ones 

 may be inserted about three -fourths of 

 their length in the soil when placed out- 

 of-doors. In this way such plants as 

 Gooseberries, Currants, Roses and Rose 

 stocks like the Brier and the Manetti, 

 Dogwoods, Brooms, Cotoneasters, Diervillas (Weigela), Forsythia, Jasmines, 

 Kerria Mock Orange (Philadelphus), Flowering Currant (Ribes san- 



Fig. 63. Shoot of Skimmia japonica Rooting 



