PREPARATION OF CUTTINGS 67 
flowering habit, but this difficulty may be overcome by 
selecting a few plants and cutting back the flowering shoots 
late in autumn, when a number of growths will be formed 
which will be found suitable for winter cuttings. Whilst 
propagation by cuttings may take place at any season, the 
cultivator must be guided in this matter by the time of the 
year the flowers are required. December, January, and 
February are the principal months in which to raise plants 
for flowering in the succeeding winter. Growers in Scot- 
land will find that plants rooted in October will yield 
excellent results, provided they are kept growing steadily 
without a check during the dull days of winter. They 
should be potted into 24-inch pots in mid-November, and 
again into 4-inch and 5-inch pots in January, by which 
time the shoots will have been pinched once, and a founda- 
tion laid for the future plant. 
Preparation of the Cuttings.—Select strong, short- 
jointed side shoots, 4 to 5 inches long, with a heel, if 
possible ; but if this cannot be retained, and it is neces- 
sary to cut the shoot, let it be cut with a sharp knife 
just below a joint. Remove the bottom pair of leaves 
in preparing the cutting. There are various methods of 
rooting the cuttings, but whatever method is adopted, 
they must be kept perfectly fresh, and not allowed to 
flag or droop by exposure to the sun or a dry atmo- 
sphere. Where large numbers of cuttings are propa- 
gated, a sand-bed is most generally employed as a rooting 
medium. Sand, or a light, sandy compost, to the depth 
of 3 or 4 inches, is placed in the propagating frame, 
in a house having an atmospheric temperature of 55° 
to 60°, and a bottom, or sand-bed heat of 60° to 65°. 
