CHAPTER V. 



PRACTICAL CUTTING MAKING 

 ARABIS ALBIDA FLORA PLENA AND VARIEGATA 



Many thousands of this plant are sold year by year, and 

 because it is a good selling line it comes under our observation. 

 No artificially created heat is required in its propagation, but 

 a suitable bed must be prepared upon which a frame and lights 

 may rest. In making this bed, first of all procure and lay down 

 a sufficient drainage of old pot sherds or other hard material. 

 This should be covered with several inches of decaying leaves 

 or the coarse sif tings from the compost heap. Above this about 

 4 inches of sifted and sandy soil, covered with a good sprinkling 

 of silver sand, will make the bed in which the cuttings are to 

 be inserted. The cuttings are made from the young growths, 

 and as the wood is exceedingly brittle, the knife used must 

 be very sharp. Make them about 2 inches in length and remove 

 one or even two pairs of leaves so that they may be inserted 

 from I to I J inches in the bed, the soil of which will have been 

 pressed firmly down. , In making the holes use a small dibble and 

 see that it is not too deep for the bases of the cuttings to rest on 

 a firm bottom. That I consider vital, no matter what subject 

 we may be dealing with. One and a half inches from cutting to 

 cutting, with 2 inches between the rows, is a convenient distance 

 to insert, for though this space seems small, the cuttings remain 

 in situ so short a time after being rooted that it suffices. Immedi- 

 ately they are inserted they should be well watered with a fine- 

 rosed pot to settle the soil well around them and to supply that 

 moisture which they are unable to seek because of the want of 

 roots. Then the lights should be put on and covered with shading, 

 no air being admitted for about two weeks, unless it is necessary 

 to let out superfluous moisture. It will take three or four weeks 

 before they make any sign of rooting, and during that period 

 they will require a slight sprinkling daily. They are almost 

 bound to wilt, and the first sign of rooting is that the leaves 

 stiffen. When this has gone on for about a week it is 

 well to remove the lights altogether. 



We have dwelt on these details rather fully because their 

 essential features apply to other cold-frame subjects, and a 

 reference to them will prevent repetition. 



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