IMPORTANT FLORISTS' PLANTS 145 



close, warm house they root slowly and drop many leaves, but the 

 heat of the second hotbed starts root action quickly and establishes 

 your plant. It is worth far more than it costs. If you wish smaller 

 stock, plant out the smaller plants from the one and three-quarter-inch 

 or two-inch pots and treat the same. In the Fall you will have nice 

 stock with one tier of berries." 



Air layers. The tops of plants which have become leggy as a result 

 of dropping their lower leaves, can be rooted by air layering. An 

 incision is made in the stem at the point where the roots are wanted. 

 A ball of moss is tied around the stem and if placed in a propagating 

 case the new plants will root in about six weeks. The stub of the old 

 plant will send out shoots which can be used as cuttings. 



CARNATIONS 



Cuttings. Large Carnation growers reserve a certain number of 

 plants which are not allowed to produce blooms, for it is from such 

 plants as these that the best cuttings are obtained. The cuttings should 

 be three to four inches long and are best removed from the plants by 

 giving them a downward pull. Such a cutting will have several ' ' hairs," 

 or fibro-vascular bundles, at its base. Except for removing these hairs 

 the cuttings are left untrimmed, unless too long, for, according to the 

 best modern practice, the cutting should have as little cut surface as 

 possible. Cuttings if taken from high up on the flowering stems are 

 thought to give weak-stemmed plants, and if taken from the shaded 

 bases of the plants the resulting plants are apt to be narrow-leaved 

 and weak. 



They should be rooted in a temperature of from 50 degrees to 55 

 degrees overhead, and 60 degrees to 65 degrees in the sand. Too high 

 a temperature weakens the cuttings, and at 40 degrees they take a 

 week longer to root. It usually requires 10 days to callus and from 

 18 to 21 days to root. The cuttings should be inserted very shallow 

 in the sand. When rooted, pot into 2-inch pots and keep them close 

 for several days, shading them and syringing carefully. 



Carnation sports. Relative to Carnation sports, T. D. Hatfield, in 

 the Report of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for 1917, says: 

 "A cutting or two may be obtained from the shoot that produces the 

 sport, but in order to obtain a greater increase, resort must be had to 

 leaf eyes. As, however, all sports are bud variations, still other sports 

 are liable to occur. Propagation of any particular plant means the 

 perpetuation of that plant in another individual. Every new plant 

 raised in this way is a part of the original and just as old; it is the 

 same plant. In connection with this fact it should be noted that when 

 a Carnation gets ready to sport, it frequently sports in several places 

 at the same time. So well is this fact known by judges that when a 

 sport is put before them for certification the award, if considered, is 

 generally withheld until it is found if the sport has appeared elsewhere." 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



Propagation. Chrysanthemum cuttings (see figs. 16A and 16B) 

 may be rooted at temperatures of from 40 degrees up to 80 degrees, 

 but 55 degrees is the proper one. If a bottom heat of from 5 degrees 

 to 10 degrees can be supplied they will root a little more quickly. The 



