PROPAGATING- FRAMES. 



45 



. Small propagating -box. 



answers the same purpose and accommodates a larger 

 number of plants. A useful propagating-box for the win- 

 dow garden or amateur conservatory is shown in Fig. 45. 

 A box 2 or 3 inches high is 

 secured, and inside this a 

 zinc or galvanized iron tray 

 is set, leaving sufficient 

 space between it and the 

 box to admit a pane of 

 glass upon every side. 

 These panes form the four 

 sides of the box, and one 

 or two panes are laid 

 across the top. The metal 

 tray holds the soil and allows no water to drip upon the 

 floor. One of the best boxes for general purposes is made 

 in the form of a simple board box without top or bottom, 

 and 15 or 18 inches high, the top being covered with two 

 sashes, one of which raises upon a hinge (Fig. 46). Four 

 by three feet is a convenient size. An ordinary light hot- 

 bed frame is sometimes constructed upon the bench of a 

 greenhouse and covered with common hotbed sash. Prop- 

 agating-houses are sometimes built with permanent propa- 

 gating-frames of this character throughout their length, as 

 shown in Fig. 47. Such permanent frames are mostly used 

 for conifers, either from cuttings or grafts (usually the latter) 

 and also for grafts of rhododen- 

 drons(See Chapters V.and VI. ). 

 In all the above appliances 

 heat is obtained from the sun or 

 from the bench-pipes or flues of 

 a greenhouse. There are vari- 

 ous contrivances in which the 

 heat is applied locally, for the 

 purpose of securing greater or 

 more uniform heat. One of the simplest and best of these 

 is the propagating-oven shown in Fig. 48. It is a glass- 



46. Propagating box 



