88 PLANT PROPAGATION 
Seedlings of the hardy Azaleas are raised by sowing 
the seed as soon as ripe in well-drained boxes filled with 
sifted peat and sand in cold frames, lifting and trans- 
planting in the following autumn. Cuttings of half- 
ripened shoots, 2 or 3 inches long, taken off with a heel 
in August, inserted in sand and peat, if placed in a cold 
frame until-callused, then given a gentle bottom heat, 
generally root fairly well. Layering by notching and 
pegging branches down in March is an easy method, but 
two years elapse before sufficient roots can be detached 
from the parent plants with safety. Splice-grafting on 
stocks of A. pontica under glass is the method mostly 
practised with choice varieties. The greenhouse varieties 
of A. indica can also be raised from seed and cuttings, 
but are chiefly splice-grafted in winter on stocks of 
a robust-growing kind, such as the common white, 
A. indica alba, and placed under bell-glasses or in a 
close case in the propagating-house in a temperature of 
65 degrees until union is effected. 
BamBusa (BAmMBoos).—These ornamental Gramina- 
ceous plants are propagated by carefully dividing the 
rootstocks in March and April just as growth is about 
tocommence. They are most successful when potted and 
given moderate warmth under glass until re-established. 
BarToniA.—B. aurea is a pretty golden-flowered 
annual. It thrives best when seeds are sown on a 
sunny border in April where intended to flower, as the 
seedlings do not transplant well. 
Basit, Sweet (Ocymum_ basilicum).—This useful 
flavouring herb is raised from seed sown under glass in 
April to provide plants for planting out in May and 
June. 
Beans, Broap.—For the earliest crop sow the seed in 
