300 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



to decay in the cutting bed, and with them a somewhat 

 firm condition of the wood is desirable. They are made 

 in about the same way as the soft cuttings and require 

 the same care. With many of the shrubs, it is a good 

 plan to secure a heel of the old wood, if possible, at the 

 base of the cuttings. 



LEAF CUTTINGS. 



Several plants are most readily grown from what are 

 known as leaf cuttings, among the plants propagated in 

 this way are the rex begonias, gloxinias, and bryo- 

 phyllnm. If a leaf of bryophyllum be placed on a cut- 

 ting bed, the buds along the margin will develop and 

 send out stems and roots. The small plants can then 

 be detached and potted. A rex ^begonia leaf can be 

 made to develop buds from any of the larger veins. 

 The leaves may be cut into strips of a fan shape an inch 

 or so in width, severing as many of the main ribs as 

 possible, and by inserting them edgewise in the cutting 

 bed, small plants will soon form. Another way is to 

 place the entire leaf upon the surface of the bed, sever- 

 ing the larger veins at intervals of two inches, and either 

 pegging them down, or sprinkling a little sand over them. 

 The gloxinia may be grown as above, or the entire leaf 

 may be used as a cutting by inserting the end of the 

 petiole in the sand. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERING, GRAFTING AND BUDDING. 



Layers differ from cuttings only in being rooted 

 while still attached to the plant. Many of the soft 

 wooded plants that have long, slender branches can be 

 readily rooted by pegging them down upon a propa- 



