TREE CARNATIONS 45 



into ordinary wooden cutting-trays, in which they sooner 

 gain strength than in pots. Where no efficient means 

 of producing bottom-heat exists, an ordinary dung- 

 heated frame may be employed, but the utmost caution 

 must be exercised not to overdo the heat, nor ever to 

 saturate the cuttings in the steam that is seldom absent 

 from the confined dimensions of this type of propagating 

 structure. Cuttings root readily also if inserted in a 

 shallow layer of sandy compost placed in a cutting-box 

 or tray, fitted with a pane of glass as a cover, and placed 

 above the heating-apparatus of any forcing-house in opera- 

 tion. Where any of these methods is impossible, the 

 Continental practice of striking cuttings or layering in 

 late summer, will be found an efficient means of producing 

 stock. By the latter method the young plants ought to 

 be ready to place in three-inch pots in September, those 

 that require stopping having the growing point extracted 

 at as early a moment as convenient. The young plants 

 winter well with Malmaisons and other sections, treating 

 them in the same manner till the warmer weather of 

 returning spring induces growth, when they will require 

 transplanting into larger pots and shortly be in a condition 

 to be grown in the same manner as spring-rooted plants. 

 Reverting to these, as soon as possible after recovering 

 from the effects of propagation and transplanting, a course 

 of greenhouse treatment must be substituted for that of 

 the hothouse, and by April the young plants will thrive 

 best in a pit, where fresh air always plays about them. 

 Much the same system as regards repotting and general 

 treatment should be pursued as in the case of other soft- 

 wooded greenhouse plants, that is, they ought to be re- 

 potted previous to the plants being possibly checked in 

 growth, the shoots must be stopped once or twice in 

 order to induce a bushy habit ; but stopping cannot be 

 pursued beyond May or June without endangering the 

 winter's bloom. Nice blooming plants, with five to 



