PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 53 



sorts of Apples of the Bur-Knot type, strike readily in this man- 

 ner. Mr. T. A. Knight succeeded in propagating Apples, Pears, 

 Plums, and Cherries by root-cuttings, about a foot in length, 

 and not less than a quarter of an inch in diameter, planted in 

 November, leaving about an inch above the surface. (See 

 Trans. Hort. Soc., 1816, vol. ii. p. 252.) 



Many hard-wooded cuttings refuse to root if placed in 

 bottom-heat at once after being cut, especially if they have 

 been brought in from the open air ; but if they are set in a 

 cold frame or pit until they " callus," and are then brought 

 into heat, they produce roots freely, and start into growth at 

 once. 



On the advantage of bottom-heat applied at the proper 

 time, Dr Lindley remarks, in ' Theory of Horticulture,' p. 213 : 

 "This is for the purpose of giving them a stimulus at exactly 

 that time when they are most ready to receive it. Had they 

 been forced at first in bottom-heat, the stimulus would have 

 been applied to cuttings whose excitability had not been ren- 

 ovated, and the consequence would have been a development 

 of the powers of growth so languid that they probably would 

 not have survived the coming winter ; but the stimulus being 

 withheld till the cuttings are quite ready for growth, it tells 

 with the utmost possible effect." Soft-wooded cuttings, as 

 Alternantheras, Verbenas, Lobelias, &c., may be rooted very 

 quickly and easily by placing zinc pans, about a foot wide and 

 one and a half inch in depth, on the hot-water pipes. These 

 pans should be filled with sand saturated with water; and in 

 this medium, aided by the bottom-heat thus secured from the 

 pipes, a large number of cuttings may be rooted in a very short 

 time. 



Any light, sandy, moist soil may be used in which to insert 

 soft-wooded cuttings. If, however, they are tender, or there is 

 any danger of their damping off as is the case with Ericas, 

 Epacris, Azaleas, and many succulent plants a thin layer of 

 clean white sand should be spread over the surface of the compost 

 in the cutting pots or pans ; and the pots may in such cases be 

 three parts filled with crocks, so as to insure perfect drainage. 

 Cuttings of many plants strike or root freely in any soft, moist 

 substance : for example, soft-wooded plants of free growth, such 

 as Fuchsias, Verbenas, and Lobelias, root quickly and freely 

 in saucers of wet sand, or sand and water, if placed in an ex- 

 hilarating temperature. Rose-cuttings, as well as those of the 

 Oleander and many other plants, root freely in bottles of soft 

 or rain water ; and cuttings of Nepenthes root well in living 

 Sphagnum moss in a close heated frame. In the humid 



