CUTTINGS. 



72 



CUTTINGS. 



Fuchsias. The points of the shoots, 

 after the spring growth has heen com- 

 pleted, and before the young wood is 

 thoroughly ripened, should be used : 

 and the soil should contain a large 

 proportion of sand, and be thoroughly 

 drained. If cuttings of this kind are 

 put in during autumn, they require to 

 be kept through the winter under glass, 

 and they will not produce roots till 

 spring ; but if the plants have made 

 their growth, as most Australian 

 shrubs do, in February or March, and 

 the cuttings are taken off and planted 



CUTTING OF A CAMELLIA. 



hi these months, they will root that 

 same season, and be fit to transplant 

 into small pots in the course of the 

 summer. To accomplish this object, 

 it is common with cultivators to force 

 forward the plants from which cut- 

 tings are to be taken, by removing 

 them from the greenhouse to the hot- 

 house in January; and after they 

 have made their shoots, to harden 

 these before making the cuttings, by 

 removing the plants back again to the 

 greenhouse. Most cuttings of this 

 kind require to be covered with a 

 hand-glass, and some with a bell- 

 glass. 



Heath-like plants, such as Erica, 

 Epacris, Diosma, are among the most 

 difficult to propagate by cuttings. 

 The points of the shoots only are to 



be taken ; and these, in some cases, 

 should be not more than one inch in 

 length. These should be taken off 

 early in spring, when the plants have 

 nearly ceased growing ; and they 

 should be cut clean across at a joint, 

 and the leaves clipt, or cut off, for 

 about half-an-inch of their length. 

 The cuttings, thus prepared, are 

 planted in pure white sand, well 



CUTTING OF A HEATH. 



drained, with a little peat soil as a 

 substratum ; and they are covered 

 with a bell-glass, and placed in a 

 frame near the glass, and shaded. 

 The best time for putting in Heath 

 cuttings is in December ; when plants, 

 that have about half finished their 

 growth, should be selected. The 

 cuttings ought not to be more than 

 one inch long ; and even shorter 

 cuttings sometimes strike better. The 

 leaves must then be clipped off with 

 a small and very sharp-pointed pair of 

 scissors, to about half the length of 

 the cutting, or less; as the shorter 

 the shank of the cutting, the quicker 

 it strikes, and there is less chance of 

 its rotting. Great care is necessary 

 in clipping off these leaves, and cut- 

 ting the cutting across, so as not in 

 the slightest degree to lacerate the 

 bark, for the smallest wound or lace- 

 ration will prove fatal to the cutting, 

 by allowing the moisture to enter it, 

 and thus damp it off. This, after all, 

 is perhaps one of the principal reasons 

 why so few, even of gardeners, strike 

 Heath cuttings well ; for the cuttings 

 being very small and succulent, the 

 operators are seldom sufficiently care- 

 ful in clipping off the leaves with 



