CULTIVATION AND PROPAGATION 41 



Propagation from cuttings. 



The middle of September is about the time to begin propa- 

 gating by cuttings. The flats should be eighteen inches long, 

 fourteen inches wide, and five inches deep. Three-fourths of 

 an inch of broken pots should be placed on the bottom, then 

 three-fourths inch of potting soil, and the remainder of the flat 

 filled with sand, which must be tramped in with the feet to 

 make it very solid. Loosely packed flats are not satisfactory. 

 The sand for propagating should always be covered, to pre- 

 serve the natural moisture and to avoid the necessity of much 

 watering. Good lake sand, not too fine, is the best; when this 

 cannot be obtained, other good sand can be used, but it must 

 be clean and not mixed with clay or other binding material. 



Good vigorous cuttings should be taken from one-year 

 growth with a two-year heel, and trimmed for one and one- 

 fourth inches. They should be set in the rows two inches apart, 

 using a dibble with a blunt point, placing with the cut directly 

 on the sand. They should then be pressed and firmed, for 

 cuttings put in loosely will not root well. After a moderate 

 watering, the flats should be put in an air-tight shaded frame. 



When the cuttings are beginning to heel, the flats may be 

 placed on the sand in the propagating bench. Starting with a 

 moderate bottom heat of about 65 degrees, after a month the 

 temperature may be raised to 70 degrees, care being taken not 

 to dry the flats from the bottom. To prevent this, a funnel is 

 put between the flats and sufficient water poured through to 

 keep the sand on the bench moist. 



At the end of May well-rooted cuttings may be planted from 

 the flats in the free ground. The cuttings should be carefully 

 shaken out and the roots dipped in dissolved clay to prevent 

 the young roots from becoming dry. The rows should be about 

 eight inches apart, and the plants set at the same depth as 



