274 



SIIRUBBERIRS AND FLOWER-GARDENS. 



[(HAP 



the third joint from the blossom, and bring it up the middle of 

 the stalk until you enter the joint, which you must scarcely divide 

 in two : there stop, then, and pull out your knife. Bend down the 

 stalk to the earth, and make a little drill with your two fore-fingers 

 of one hand, sufficient to hide the whole of the split and a little 

 more at each end of it ; put a little wooden peg with a hook to it 

 into the side of the drill, and push it into the ground so far as for 

 it to come down and fix the stalk at the bottom of the drill where 

 you are holding it, and then cover over with compost, pressing it 

 gently down with the flat of your hand. By piping Sy about the 

 first of July, take the two top joints of a branch, which are the 

 fittest for this purpose ; cut off immediately below the second 

 joint, and with a sharp instrument ; peel off the outer loose skin 

 from the joint, and make a little split up it for about two eighths 

 of an inch ; shorten the leaves a little way above the upper joint, 

 and this will leave your piping about two inches long. Having 

 procured the number of pipings that you mean to plant, throw 

 them into a basin of rain water to soften them. You will now 

 have to plant them, either in the open ground, or on a hot-bed ; 

 but, in either case, you must cover them with a hand-glass, or a 

 striking-glass, which is a small hand-glass, not more than eight 

 or ten inches square : on a gentle hot-bed is host, the mould 

 being one third maiden earth, one third leaf-mould, one third 

 well-rotted horse-dung, and with a sprinkling of sharp sand 

 amongst it. Place your glass down where you are going to put 

 the pipings, and thus mark out the space ; then take your pipings 

 out of the basin and force them, one by one, into the mould to 

 about three parts of an inch of their length, and let them be an 

 inch apart from one another. Do not put on the glass till all the 

 leaves and stalks are dry, for they would inevitably rot if you were 

 to do this. When they are dry, however, put on the glass, 

 making its edges fit exactly into the mark that you made by its 

 means before you began planting, and thus you will not disturb or 

 crush any of the outer pipings. Thrust the edges of the glass 

 down a little way into the earth, so that no air can get in. This 

 is what the French call stifling. Shade by means of netting or 

 matting from the sun, but yet do not exclude its rays completely. 

 It is in giving air, light, and moisture, at this time, and for the 

 following three weeks, that the greatest skill is required. If the 

 pipings appear to be doing well, that is, looking of a good colour 



