PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS, ETC. 63 



about three-quarters of an inch. If you 

 are making a lot of cuttings quite a num- 

 ber can be made before putting them in 

 the sand; but do not let the cut surface be 

 exposed to the air too long or the chances 

 of rooting will be greatly lessened. 



Geranium cuttings should be set about 

 an inch apart in the row, and the rows about 

 two inches apart. If they are put closer 

 they are much more likely to rot. Always 

 dibble in the cuttings; simply forcing 

 them down into the sand will injure the 

 ends so that the cuttings will not root. 

 After putting the cuttings in the sand, 

 water them and shade them from the sun 

 with a single sheet of newspaper. Other 

 plants which may be propagated this way 

 are heliotrope, ageratum, coleus, abutilon, 

 hydrangea, etc. 



The dracaena is another plant which may 

 be cultivated by cuttings of the stems, but 

 instead of making these cuttings as I have 

 described for the geranium, the long, bare 

 stem is cut into pieces two or three inches 

 long, each of which must have a node, and 

 the pieces laid down in the sand — they 

 should be just covered. Each piece will 



