152 SATURDAY IN MY GARDEN 



September until the end of November, and Diagram 12 gives 

 some practical hints on the procedure to be followed. 



The cuttings should be made of wood of the current year's 

 growth. It should be well ripened and be medium in strength. 

 Figure 1 in the diagram shows a cutting taken from a bush of 

 Madame Lambard. It is eight or nine inches long and should be 

 detached from the old wood with a heel, as indicated at the base 

 of the cutting. A A A represent the lower leaves, which should 

 all be removed. With the point of a knife pick out all the lower 

 buds except the uppermost four or five. Figure 3 shows how the 

 heel should be trimmed, by cutting off the ragged end. 



The cuttings may be inserted in the open ground, which should 

 be composed of good friable soil, sandy rather than clayey. The 

 situation may be some half-shady corner of the garden under a 

 north wall. Drive a spade well into the soil and work it back- 

 wards and forwards, towards and away from the body, so as to 

 leave a V-shaped trench in the ground along the bottom of which 

 a layer of sand may be placed. The cuttings should be inserted 

 six inches apart to a depth of six inches, taking care that the heel 

 of the cutting rests firmly on the base of the trench. Tread the 

 cuttings firmly into the ground and they may then be left alone 

 for a year, after which they will, if they have survived the rigours 

 of the preceding winter, be ready for planting out in their per- 

 manent quarters. 



Another plan that of striking cuttings in pots !s shown in 

 Figures 4 and 5. The cuttings for this purpose should be no longer 

 than four or five inches. They should be trimmed as shown in 

 Figure 4 and inserted round the edge of the pots as indicated in 

 Figure 5. The pots may be placed in a cold frame or greenhouse and 

 planted out as they obtain new roots in the early spring in 

 ground that has been deeply dug and well manured. So that a 

 good foundation may be laid for strong, bushy and symmetrical 

 specimens, the young plants must be severely pruned the second 

 season, and all attempts to flower should be frustrated by pinching 

 off all the buds during the year succeeding that in which they have 

 been " struck." 



