CHAPTER II. 



SAND FOR PROPAGATING PURPOSES. BOXES TO RECEIVE 



CUTTINGS. LENGTH OF CUTTINGS. ENGRAVING OF CUT- 

 TING MOST SUITABLE TO USE. ENGRAVING OF CUTTING 



READY TO BE PLACED IN THE SAND. MY MODE OF 



PREVENTING CUTTINGS FROM WILTING BEFORE BEING 

 PLACED IN THE SAND. 



For the cuttings use boxes made of one inch boards that 

 have not been used for any other purpose. I have often 

 noticed growers using, for propagating purposes, soap, starch 

 or candle boxes. All such are not fit, they will cause 

 disease in the cutting bed. 



Much depends upon cleanliness in rooting these cuttings. 

 More Azalea cuttings die from being infected with insects 

 than from any other cause. 



I use boxes which a man can handle without inconven- 

 ience, 24 inches long by 18 inches wide and three inches 

 deep. There should be a hole in each corner of about one 

 inch in diameter, to allow the water to pass off. As there is 

 more water used for the Azalea cuttings than for any other of 

 the hard wood class of plants, a half an inch of drainage is 

 absolutely necessary for their success. You will find this 

 explained more fully in following chapters. 



Fill the boxes with sand, with the exception of the half 

 an inch at the bottom which has been left for drainage. 

 Beat the sand with a brick or something weighty. It is 

 impossible to have it too solid. Water the sand with a fine 



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