356 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



sufficient depth to bring the joint of the first leaf -stalk of the cutting on 

 the surface of the soil. The cutting is less likely to fail when the base of 

 the cutting rests upon the soil. Press the soil firmly at the base of the 

 cutting, at the same time giving pot and soil a gentle rap on the potting 

 bench. Label each cutting as it is inserted, noting the date of the opera- 

 tion, which may afterwards prove instructive. Go through all the cut- 

 tings in this way until they are completed. When inserting the cuttings 

 in pots, boxes, or on the greenhouse bench, keep them two inches apart 

 and three inches between the rows. Should the compost be fairly moist 

 no water will be required for some hours. When it is applied give a 

 thorough soaking from a fine-rosed can. 



Best Place for Propagating. The custom in most gardens is to 

 place the pots and boxes containing the cuttings in a cold frame out- 

 doors. The pots, &c., should be plunged in ashes, cocoanut fibre refuse, 

 spent hops, and any similar substance, thus keeping the soil in the pots 

 moist, and also affording protection should severe and prolonged frosts 

 prevail. Stable-litter or bracken should be packed round the sides of 

 the frame to render it more frost proof. The material inside the frame 

 should be of sufficient heig;ht to raise the pots well up to the frame- 

 light, so that when the cuttings become rooted the young plants are not 

 drawn and weakly. In frosty weather cover the frame-lights with a 

 few layers of mats, and frosts of more than ordinary severity may be 

 kept out by covering the frame-lights with a kind of thatch made of straw 

 or bracken. The cuttings or young plants suffer, and sometimes damp 

 off through being covered up. This is the case when the weather con- 

 tinues hard for many weeks. On fine and mild days the frame-lights 

 may be slightly tilted to ensure ventilation. 



To raise plants quickly, and with little risk of failure, place a small 

 frame on the greenhouse or conservatory bench, and plunge the pots in 

 this in the same way as advised for frames outdoors. The temperature 

 of the glass structure should be between 40 degrees and 45 degrees, but 

 never exceed the latter figure. Packing round the frame with litter, &c., 

 is unnecessary in this case, the hot-water pipes maintaining a suitable 

 temperature and anxiety regarding frosts removed. Those who do not 

 possess a frame of suitable dimensions, may easily and quickly erect a 

 temporary one. Put ten-inch planks, about an inch in thickness, cut 

 to any size or shape, together, and keep the boards secure and upright. 

 Laths should be nailed across the frame, and fixed in such a way that 

 sheets of glass may be arranged upon them to form a kind of frame- 

 light. These sheets of glass may be removed at will, and any given 

 plant or number of plants inspected with ease. Within a month many 

 of the cuttings will have rooted, and they may then be taken from the 

 propagating frame to another structure, or temporary frame, without 

 delay. 



Treatment of Young Plants. Place the rooted cuttings, or what 

 may now be called " young plants," in a rough frame on the greenhouse 

 bench, and construct this in a similar way to the one used for propa- 

 gating described earlier. Put the pots on cocoanut fibre refuse or 



