14:6 THE NUKSERY. 



fig. 60, SO that the lower part will not be out of reach of 

 air and heat, without which new roots will not be formed. 



During the summer, the earth must be kept clean and 

 friable around them ; and, in dry seasons, a thick mulch- 

 ing will be very beneficial in preserving a uniformity of 

 heat and moisture. In the fall, the plants will be fit for 

 final transplanting ; but if they remain another season, 

 they should be pruned back in winter to two or three 

 buds at the base, and during the following summer only 

 one or two shoots be allowed to grow, all others being 

 rubbed off early. 



Layers, when taken from the mother plant, and set in 

 nursery rows, should be cut back in the same manner, in 

 order to obtain one or two vigorous shoots when the 

 plant is to be finally set out. 



Short Cuttings. — These consist of only one eye, from 

 the stoutest and firmest shoots of the previous year's 

 wood (fig. 59), with not more than an inch of wood on 

 each side of it. These cuttings, however, seldom succeed 

 so well in the open ground as others. They require a 

 little artificial bottom heat. 



The simplest way to treat them is to make a sort of 

 hotbed, with two to three feet of half-decayed stable 

 manure, well mixed, and six or eight inches of light 

 sandy soil. The cuttings are planted in this a quarter to 

 half an inch deep, and covered with a glazed sash. If 

 carefully and regularly watered, and well ventilated, they 

 will make fine plants by the autumn. A better way than 

 this is, especially in propagating the foreign varieties, to 

 put them into pots, and put the pots in the hotbed. 



A single cutting may be put into a small three inch 

 pot, covered a fourth of an inch deep ; or several cuttings 

 may be inserted in a larger pot. In this case they should 

 be placed around the sides. When they have made a 

 growth of about six inches, they may be shifted into 



