i CUTTINGS OF CONIFERS. 



either be done with a sharp knife or scissors. When the cuttings are 

 thus made, procure some wide-mouthed or shallow pots, and well drain 

 them, placing over the drainage a small portion of tufty peat or moss, 

 and over that a layer of loam about one inch thick, filling up the 

 remainder of the pot with white sand (the loam prevents the cuttings 

 from cankering after they are rooted, which they are apt to do when 

 placed in sand only) ; then plant the cuttings from j to | of an inch 

 deep, according to their size ; but the shallower they are placed the 

 better, provided they are made secure and not allowed afterwards to 

 get dry, and particularly if covered with a bell-glass at first ; this is 

 not absolutely necessary if the cutting-pots are put into a frame kept 

 quite close, as an equal temperature, both for heat and moisture, is 

 requisite at this time. Having placed the cuttings properly in the 

 sand, give them a copious watering, and finally remove them to some 

 cold frame, kept close and well shaded when necessary. They may 

 remain in this situation tUl the end of October, when they should be 

 removed to some cold pit for the winter, care being taken that they do 

 not suffer from frost or damp ; but they must on no account have much 

 artifloial heat. About the end of rebruary remove the cutting-pots to 

 a moderate hot-bed frame, and place bell-glasses over them (if not done 

 before) ; the cuttings will then root readily, and many of them will be 

 fit to pot off by the end of June, at which time those cuttings which are 

 not rooted should be again placed in sand, and treated as before. 

 When first potted off, the young plants should be treated Mke seedlings, 

 and afterwards hardened to the open air. 



Cape Heaths, which are among the more difficult plants to strike from 

 cuttings, are treated thus : — BTo particular time can be specified for the 

 operation, because the plants are in a fit state for taking off cuttings 

 at different times ; but the earlier in the season the better, although 

 many cultivators succeed perfectly so late as the months of August and 

 September. The plants from which the cuttings are taken must be 

 perfectly healthy. The wood should be firm and nearly ripe ; if taken 

 when very young it is almost certain to damp off. The short lateral 

 shoots, about an inch or an inch and a half long, should always be 

 chosen, the leaves stripped off them to about half their length, and the 

 ends cut across with a sharp knife ; in this state they are ready for the 

 cutting -pot. The cutting-pots should be prepared in the following 

 manner: — Fill them about two-thirds with broken pots, and cover these 

 with a thin stratum of turfy peat or some other substance, to prevent 

 the sand with which the pots are filled up from choking the drainage. 

 The silver-sand common about London is very well adapted for striking 

 Heaths, but almost any white sand wiU answer the purpose. The cut- 

 tings must be inserted in the sand, not deeply, but merely deep enough 

 to support themselves ; from a quarter to half an inch is quite sufficient. 

 They must then be well watered, which will carry down the particles of 



