THE GREEN-HOUSE. 



189 



Pots, soils, sherds, gravel, and siftings of peat or 

 other mould, are required to be at hand for the 

 operation of planting cuttings, as for planting seeds. 

 Having fixed on the kind or kinds to be propagated, 

 first consider whether they will root best in loam, 

 peat, or sand. Drain the pots as for sowing seeds, 

 and fill them brimfull with the proper compost, 

 shaking the pot and pressing down the compost with 

 the hand : then having taken off the points of the 

 shoots of an inch or more in length according to the 

 kinds, proceed to cut off their lower leaves with a 

 sharp penknife to half the length of the cutting, and 

 sometimes more ; and lastly, cut it clean across at a 

 joint or bud, placing it on the nail, or on a thumb- 

 piece for that purpose, as is done in cutting the nib 

 of a pen. 



When the cuttings are to be planted in peat or 

 sand, the pots being filled will have to be previously 

 well watered, so as to render the whole of the soil 

 moist, otherwise it cannot be sufiiciently tightened to 

 the base of the cutting ; a point, as we have observed 

 more than once, of the most essential consequence. 

 Loam will generally be found sufficiently moist for 

 that purpose without watering. Not more than one 

 species should be put in a pot, on account of the very 

 different periods different plants take to root. In the 

 case of very scarce or delicate sorts, it is common to 

 put only one cutting in the centre of a small pot, 

 which renders them less liable to be injured by damp, 

 and early transplantation is not wanted. 



