PROPAGATION BY SINGLE BUDS. 25 



growth every day to see that it does not commence rotting 

 or damping off, as it is called ; should there be signs of 

 this, give a little more air ; but be careful of cold currents 

 from the outside, as these are often fatal to the young 

 plants. Also avoid the direct rays of the sun, either by 

 whitewashing the glass, or nailing up strips of white mus 

 lin or paper to the rafters of the house. 



When the plants have made a growth of two or three 

 inches, they should be shifted into two-and-one-half to 

 three-inch pots, putting one plant into each. 



Up to this time no material has been used which con- 

 tained any appreciable amount of plant food, nor has it 

 been needed, for the growth of roots and leaves has been 

 produced from the food stored in the bud and the wood 

 attached., and what little they may have obtained from the 

 water and sand. The plants are now in condition to use 

 more substantial food, consequently the soil in which they 

 are to be potted may be composed of rotted sods, taken 

 from an old pasture, mixed with one half its bulk of old, 

 well-decomposed barnyard manure, or instead of sods use 

 muck, or leaf mold from the woods. These should be 

 mixed together at least six months before using ; add one 

 eighth to one quarter sand, and turn all over until it is 

 thoroughly incorporated, then sift it all through a coarse 

 sieve before using. Having put a quantity of the soil upon 

 the potting bench, which should be in the propagating 

 house, and provided a quantity of broken pots or bricks 

 for drainage, take the pots containing the plants from the 

 frames, lay them on their side and give them a sudden jar 

 with the hand, so as to loosen the sand around^ them, then 

 draw out a plant carefully and hold it in one hand while 

 with the other you place a small piece of the drainage 

 material into the small pot, cover it with soil, then put in 

 the plant, allowing the roots to spread out naturally ; fill 

 in soil around them until the pots are full, without covering 

 the roots where they join the stem more than half an inch 



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