166 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1905 



,228. 



In two weeKs Ihey will be ready to put in small 

 pots— say two inches across 



hard-wood cutting will bend right over 

 without snapping or breaking, but a soft- 

 wood cutting does not show these character- 

 istics and will snap clean through if bent to 

 a right angle. A hard-wood cutting should 

 always be cut close to a leaf joint, the wood 

 at this point being firmer and less pithy than 

 at any other, and it roots most readily 

 when taken off the old plant in a young and 

 growing condition. Always use a sharp 

 knife, and have a heel (or very small part of 

 l he older stem) attached to the cutting. 



230. This is the only expensive part of the prop- 

 agating outfit. It costs $1.50 and fuel. For two days 

 costs five cents. But it is cheaper than a greenhouse 

 or even a coldframe 



A Home-Made Propagating De- 

 vice That Does Wonders 



By L. J. Doogue, Massachusetts 



A VERY good propagating bed, that will 

 ■**■ turn out sufficient plants for the ordi- 

 nary home garden, can be made and main- 

 tained at small cost. Three boxes are neces- 

 sary. Soap boxes will do, if the length and 



231. Homelier than sin, but the only good device 

 I have ever seen for multiplying in a dwelling house 

 plants that require bottom heat 



width are equal, so that they will closely fit 

 upon one another. Besides these there will 

 be needed a large, deep pan, two half-gallon 

 jugs, sufficient zinc to serve as a bottom for 

 one of the boxes, one peck of coarse sand, and 

 a foot heater such as is used in carriages 

 during the winter. 



Using one of the boxes as a base, bore a 

 few holes near the top for ventilators, which 

 can be controlled by the use of corks. In 

 this lower box place jugs filled with hot water 

 during the day, when little heat will be re- 

 quired. At night use the foot heater, putting 

 in about one-half a cake of fuel just before 

 retiring. Take off the top of one of the boxes 

 and nail strips along the sides wide enough 

 to hold the pan of water. This box will rest 

 over the compartment with the heater. Cut 

 the last box so that the back is about three 

 inches higher than the front, in order to get 

 the best distribution of light. Fill it to the 

 depth of three inches with coarse sand. 



This is the upper box, and should be cov- 

 ered with a pane of glass. If these boxes fit 

 tightly upon one another so no heat can 

 escape, and if the jugs and pan are filled with 

 hot water, a temperature of 8o° can be main- 

 tained all day by filling the jugs two or three 

 times. Keep a small thermometer plunged 

 in the sand, and for a few days before putting 

 in your cuttings experiment to ascertain under 

 just what conditions the heater will do the 

 most satisfactory work. I made two of these 

 home propagators, one of which I gave to a 

 friend to test in his house. 



In his test he used the hot-water bottles 

 both day and night at first, but he found that 

 the conditions were not satisfactory for night 

 use and discarded the jugs for the heater. 

 During the day he filled the jugs but two or 

 three times to keep up an average heat of 8o°. 

 With the heater a very much greater heat was 

 generated, but by using the ventilating holes 

 a satisfactory temperature was effected. 

 After getting the heat under control he put 

 in the first batch of cuttings — coleus, vincas, 

 fuchsias, heliotropes and begonias. He put 

 in twenty of each, and within fifteen days 

 they were sufficiently rooted to pot off. From 

 this bed he has stocked his garden with a 

 great variety of plants. 



I put the other bed to a more severe test, 

 though an equally successful one. I filled it 

 up with cuttings from rubber plants, plunging 

 them in the sand without other preparation 

 than cutting them with a sharp knife, leaving 

 the surface clean and smooth. I did not lose 

 one of the lot. Rubber plants grow so tall 

 after a few years that one feels impelled to 

 shorten them. This can easily be accom- 

 plished by cutting off the top and rooting it. 

 Young plants can also be started from each 

 joint of the old stem, thus from one old plant 

 which has outgrown its usefulness a great many 

 can be raised easily. After the rubber plants 

 I put in Pandanus Veikhii with success. Then 

 I took a few large leaves of Begonia Rex, cut 

 the ribs on the back, made a number of in- 

 cisions in the leaves and then placed them on 

 the sand, pressing them down to make a good 

 contact all around. From each incision a plant 

 started, and in six weeks I potted off twenty- 

 five sturdy, clean begonias from five leaves. 



229. Or, if we are cramped for room, we can raise 

 them in boxes, but they will get a slight setbacK when 

 transplanted again. See how soon they begin to flower 



During the day I kept my bed in a good 

 light near the window, ventilated it by raising 

 the glass, protected it with paper when the 

 sun was strong, and at night when cold I 

 threw a carriage robe over it. From the 

 results I have had I feel convinced that the 

 little propagating bed is as practical as the 

 larger ones used in greenhouses and will do 

 the same work on a reduced sale. 



The cost of its construction and main- 



232. Another view of the three boxes that maKe the 

 propagating outfit 



tenance foots up as follows. The item of 

 jugs and sand is not considered, as both of 

 these can be obtained about a house without 

 cost: 



Three old boxes ■. $o. 10 



Carriage heater I 



Fuel enough for two days 



Sheet of glass 



Small Fahrenheit thermometer 



Si- 95 



233. The top box with the zinc bottom holds the 

 sand, the middle one the water pan, and the bottom 

 one the heater 



