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PROPAGATION. 



All the known varieties of the Croton family can be very 

 easily propagated, namely, by cuttings ; for this purpose, some- 

 time before the rains come down, matured branches must be 

 selected from the most vigorous and healthy of the Croton trees 

 of the collection at disposal (tender branches are next to useless, 

 as they seldom take root, and when they do, a sickly miserable 

 specimen is the result). The selection having been made, cut 

 off the branches with a sharp knife ; if any of the branches are 

 too long, divide them in two or three pieces, taking care that 

 none of the pieces are less than three inches in length ; the pieces 

 thus cut should, without loss of time, be planted in seed pans 

 into which Compost No. 1* has been previously put ; the pan or 

 pans must then be put in a place where they will have plenty of 

 shade and light, and will not be shut out from rain and dew 

 when they fall ; the cuttings, if regularly watered from a can, 

 will, in a short time, take root. If the operations detailed above 

 are carefully conducted in the cool of the evening, or on a rainy 

 day, there will be very few casualties among the cuttings ; the 

 coarser natures very seldom fail, but should some of the rare 

 kinds fail, fresh cuttings of those particular kinds must be 

 taken, and put into a separate pan, and grown under a glass 

 cover. Should the quantity of cuttings required to be put down 

 at one time be so large that they cannot be dealt with in pans, 

 then the cuttings of the common varieties may be put into a 

 bed in the ground conveniently situated, as to shade, and open 

 to rain and dew. 



Within three weeks or a month, the cuttings will have rooted, 

 and as soon as they have put forth three or four leaves, they are 

 ready for transplantation into nursery pots, say seven inches 

 deep, seven inches wide at the top, and six inches at the bottom, 



* COMPOST No. 1. Stable manure, containing a large quantity of the 

 refuse of grass on which horses have been fed, and which generally con- 

 sists of roots, should be laid up to rot for some time until the roots are 

 dead then mixed with an equal quantity of red earth and laid by in a 

 shady place for a month, the heap should be watered if the weather is dry. 

 This will make an excellent soil suitable for the majority of Exotics and 

 Indigenous shrubs cultivated in pots, especially Koses, or for renewing 

 flower-beds. Hints to Amateur Gardeners, by A. T, Jaffrey. 



