74 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



fine rose watering pot, and shaded for four or five days; 

 by that time they will have begun to root, when no further 

 shading is necessary. 



"SAUCER SYSTEM "OF PROPAGATION. 



The above methods of propagating by cuttings are 

 such as are now practised by commercial florists, but for 

 amateurs in horticulture, or gardeners who have charge 

 of private green-houses, there is usually no necessity for 

 a regular propagating house, unless the requirements for 

 plants are unusually large, as the "Saucer System" of 

 propagation will answer every purpose, and it is the safest 

 of all methods in inexperienced hands. I was, I believe, 

 the first to introduce this system some twenty years ago, 

 and here repeat the directions first given in one of the 

 horticultural journals at that time: Common saucers 

 or plates are used to hold the sand in which the cuttings 

 are placed. This sand is put in to the depth of an inch 

 or so, and the cuttings inserted in it close enough to touch 

 each other. The sand is then watered until it becomes 

 of the condition of mud, and placed on the shelf of the 

 green-house, or on the window-sill of the sitting-room or 

 parlor, fully exposed to the sun, and never shaded. But 

 one condition is essential to success: until the cuttings 

 become rooted the sand must be kept continually saturated, 

 and kept in the condition of mud; if once allowed to dry 

 up, exposed to the sun as they are, the cuttings will quickly 

 wilt, and the whole operation will be defeated. 



The rules previously laid down for the proper condition 

 of the cuttings are the same in this case, and those for 

 the temperature nearly so; although, by the saucer sys- 

 tem, a higher temperature can be maintained without in- 

 jury, as the cuttings are in reality placed in water, and 



