11 



will hardly, if at all, throw out roots, while if they are inserted 

 in sand or in earth at the side of the pots, so as to touch the pot 

 in their whole length, they seldom fail of becoming rooted 

 plants. Some cuttings will be found to strike more easily if 

 their lower ends are placed on a piece of broken pot or tile, or 

 when touching a stratum of gravel ; therefore with cuttings 

 which are found difficult to strike root, it is advisable they 

 should be so laid in pots as to be made to touch the bottom. 

 A large tumbler or glass bell jar placed over a cutting, if small, 

 will often facilitate its growth. 



Themanagement of Cuttings. No cut- 

 ting requires to be planted deep, though 

 such as are large ought to be inserted 

 deeper than such as are small. In the 

 case of evergreens, the leaves should 

 never touch the soil, otherwise they will 

 rot off from damp : a leaf lying with its 

 under part on a wet soil, or on water, 

 will decay and rot as fast as if plucked 



and exposed to the sun ; and the same difficulty occurs in the case 

 of tubular-stalked plants, which are not in general very easily 

 struck, owing to the water lodging in the tube and rotting the 

 cutting. Both ends of a cutting may in some cases be inserted in 

 the soil forming a half circle in this manner, besides, with a 



greater certainty of 

 success, two plants 

 will be produced. 

 Too much light, 

 air, water, heat, or 

 cold, are alike in- 

 jurious, and to 

 guard against these 

 it is useful to en- 

 close an atmos- 

 : 



phere over the cuttings of tender plants by the means of a bell or 

 hand glass. This preserves a uniform stillness and moisture of 

 atmosphere. Immersing the pots in earth (if the cuttings are in 



