1022 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER, 



IFeb. 



60 that the short ones may be altogether, and those that are 

 taller, in a different pot. Then, with a small dibble, plant 

 them about five inches deep in the sand, and give them a good 

 watering over-head, to settle the sand about them. Let them 

 stand a day or two in a shady place ; and, if a frame be ready 

 with bottom-heat, plunge the pots to the brim. Shade them 

 well with a double mat, which may remain till they have struck 

 root; when rooted, take the sand and cuttings out of the pot, 

 and plant them into single pots in the proper compost. 

 Plunge the pots with the young plants again into a frame, 

 and shade them for four or five weeks, or till they have taken 

 with the pots ; when they may be gradually exposed to the 

 light. From various experiments, I found," he says, "that 

 ))ieces of the two-year-old wood struck quite as well ; and in 

 ])lace, therefore, of putting in cuttings six or eight inches long, 

 I have taken off cuttings from ten inches to two feet long, 

 and struck them with equal success. Although I at first 

 began," he observes, " to put in cuttings only in the month of 

 August, I now put them in at any time of the year, except 

 when the plants are making young wood. By giving them a 

 gentle bottom-heat, and covering them with a hand-glass, they 

 will generally strike roots in seven weeks or two months. The 

 citron is most easily struck, and is the freest grower. 1 

 therefore frequently strike pieces eighteen inches long ; and as 

 soon as they are put into single pots, and taken with the pots, 

 they are grafled with other sorts which grow freely." 



In regard to the precise season of grafting, or putting in 

 cuttings, this excellent cultivator observes he is not particular. 



Hawkins, in Hort. Trans., describes a method of propagating 

 ihis family by cuttings, the principal feature of which appears 

 to be, his placing his cuttings so that their base or lower end 

 may rest exactly upon potsherds, placed for the double pur- 

 pose of draining and facilitating the production of roots. 

 Other cultivators propagate sometimes by selecting the young 

 succulent shoots as soon as they are done growing, which they 

 plant in well-drained pots of light sandy loam, and which they 

 .over with a bell-glass, and set in a gentle bottom-heat. The 

 success of this method is ascertained in about two months, 

 when the cuttings will either have struck root or, rotted off. 



