98 PLANT PROPAGATION 
they have a heel, as such are quicker in striking. Some 
use pure sand, others a sandy compost with leaf-mould 
and loam. If sand alone is used, the cuttings, when 
rooted, should be potted into compost, or they will soon 
weaken, They require bottom heat in a close case or 
under a bell-glass, and will root in from four to six 
wecks ready for potting off singly in small pots. 
Border Carnations are mostly propagated by layering 
in July and August. Have in readiness the required 
compost—loam, leaf-mould, and sand in about equal 
parts sifted through a #-inch sieve—also sufficient wire 
or other pegs ready prepared. The lower leaves are 
then stripped off each shoot, either by pulling them 
downwards or trimmed off with a pair of scissors, and 
the surface soil around the plant is loosened with a 
hand-fork. An incision is next made with a sharp knife 
just below a joint on the underside, and carried upwards 
through and a little above the joint. Some of the new 
compost is spread around, into which the prepared 
shoots are pegged down, being careful to keep open the 
slit formed by the incision, and then cover with about 
an inch of compost. If kept constantly moist, the layers 
will root in from four to six weeks and be ready for 
potting up or planting out where they are intended to 
be grown. (See illustration, p. 26.) 
Raising Carnations from Seed.—Good strains of seed 
are obtainable, from which~ both single and double 
flowers result. If sown in gentle heat in May, the 
seedlings will be sufficiently advanced for planting out 
in their permanent positions by the end of September. 
Carror (Daucus carota).—Sow Early French Forcing 
and Short Horn varieties on a gentle hot-bed, protected 
with a frame, early in February, and make successional 
