Jan.] GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 1011 



well rooted in June, and when then potted off, are fully esta- 

 blished in the pots to withstand the effects of the succeeding 

 winter. 



This operation should De proceeded in as the plants are found 

 to be in a fit state, and when, as is often the case, that the 

 plants from which the cuttings are to be taken are not advanced 

 enough, a slight forcing may be adopted to forward them. 

 This is often adopted with such plants as Erica, Polygala, 

 Indigofera, Crotolaria, Chironia, and many others, which, if 

 placed in the plant-stove, vinery, or peach-house for a few 

 weeks, produce shoots very proper for this mode of propaga- 

 tion. It is, however, soon enough to put any of them into a 

 state of excitement about the middle of this month ; and, in that 

 case, by the beginning or middle of next month, they will be in 

 excellent order for the process. Those put in at this season, 

 or even next month, for the most part strike root sooner, if not 

 with greater certainty, if placed in a very moderate tempera- 

 ture ; for which purpose, the pots in which they are planted 

 should be set on a mild bottom heat, in a close frame, and 

 closely covered with bell or hand-glasses, over which should 

 be placed the frame and lights ; the closer that they are kept, 

 if damp be guarded against, the more complete will be the 

 success. 



This season has certain advantages superior to any other. 

 The cultivator is more at leisure to attend to the minutiae of 

 this part of his charge ; and therefore it is more likely to be 

 attended to with greater regularity than at a more advanced 

 period of the year, when the whole machine of the operations of 

 the garden may be said to be in full action. The sun is now 

 less powerful, and consequently less shading is necessary ; and 

 a uniform degree of moisture can be longer maintained than 

 at any other season without the application of water, which is 

 no unimportant trait in this branch of culture. Independently 

 of which, all the cuttings, taken just as they begin to shoot, have 

 the advantage of those which are put in at a more advanced 

 period of their growth, as they have not lost any of their ex- 

 citability, and are consequently better calculated for exerting 

 their whole strength in the production of roots. 



