FRUITS OF THE MYRTLE FAMILY 297 



house is not necessary, but the flats containing the seeds should 

 be kept in a frame with lath or slat covering to provide half- 

 shade. As soon as the young plants have made their second 

 leaves they should be pricked off into two-inch pots; after 

 attaining a height of 4 inches they should be shifted into three- 

 inch pots, from which they can later be transplanted into the 

 open ground. 



Layering is somewhat tedious, but with the feijoa is more 

 successful than any other vegetative means of propagation. 

 Those branches which are nearest the ground are bent down 

 and covered with soil for the space of 3 to 6 inches. They 

 require no care except keeping the soil moist. They will root in 

 about six months, after which time they may be severed from 

 the parent and set in their permanent positions. 



Cuttings are successfully rooted under glass, and occasionally 

 in the slat-house or lath-house. They should be of young 

 wood from the ends of branches, and about 4 inches in length. 

 Inserted in clear sand over bottom-heat, they will strike roots 

 in a month or two ; without bottom-heat they root very slowly. 

 It is sometimes advised to keep them covered with a bell-jar. 

 In Florida good results have been obtained by using as cuttings 

 the young sprouts which appear around the base of the plant ; 

 these are removed with a heel when still quite small, and are 

 planted in sand. Although they are slow to form roots, the 

 percentage of loss is lower than when branch-tips are used. 



Whip-grafting has given good results in some instances, 

 and is probably one of the best methods of propagating the 

 feijoa. The stock-plants should be of the diameter of a 

 lead-pencil, the cions slightly smaller and of firm wood. 

 Grafting has been successful both under glass and in the open 

 ground. 



Many feijoa plants which have been grown in California 

 have borne little or no fruit. It has commonly been thought 

 that wrong cultural practices were the cause of this, but the 



