PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 5 



day if convenient in which to drain itself before the cuttings are 

 put in. This settles it well down and solidifies it, so far as sand 

 may be said to solidify, to make a congenial bed for the encourage- 

 ment of roots. Loose, dry sand makes but a feeble anchorage for 

 the cutting, and is no fit medium for growth of any kind. 



Now as to the cuttings. Our illustrations are designed to make 

 clear those points which we cannot lucidly convey in words, 

 for in the latter we claim no great skill. A healthy, flowering shoot 



An 



Incorrect- 



Cutttrtq- 



FlG. I 



throws out several side-growths, which is the characteristic of 

 " tree " carnations, and it is these side-growths which furnish the 

 cuttings. We show these in Fig. 2. In taking them, the growth 

 nearest the flower is discarded, as also is the lowest, And why ? 

 The top one looks good enough for anything, but because of its 

 position it partakes too nearly of the character of the flower wood, 

 and despite its present strength would eventually develop into a 

 weakling. As to the lower growth, it shows nothing like the strength 

 and vitality of those above it, and as it does not possess these now 



