103G 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER. 



[Mar. 



with rotten tan, and the third with moukl." It is evident that this 

 intelligent cultivator is here alluding to nursery cultivation, to 

 which he was attached at the i)eriod of his writing on this sub- 

 ject; but we would suggest to private cultivators the mode 

 adopted by us at this very time in the gardens of H. R. H. 

 Prince Leopold, of Saxe Coburgh, which is the application of one 

 or more common garden frames, according to the extent of the 

 intended increase. But to return to Mr. Sweet's directions : 

 " In the fresh tan might be plunged, under hand-glasses or bell- 

 glasses, any cuttings of plants requiring heat; in the rotten 

 tan, under bell-glasses, any kinds not requiring heat ; and in 

 the mould, under hand-glasses, large cuttings of green house 

 plants, &c., which require no heat. Cuttings, particularly of 

 woody plants, root best in fine sand, and are safer to pot ot\ 

 after being rooted, as the sand shakes clean from their roots 

 without injuring them. When planted in mould, the roots are 

 apt to break off in parting them ; but some of the herbaceous 

 or soft wooded kinds will not root well in sand, and must, there- 

 fore, be planted in mould. Cuttings must be put in when the 

 wood is fit. Some kinds root freely in either young or ripened 

 wood, other kinds will only strike in very young wood, and 

 others only in ripened wood. From Christmas to April may 

 be considered as good a time as any to put in most kinds of cut- 

 tings, as they root more freely before the weather gets too 

 warm ; but some kinds require to be put in every week through- 

 out the year. No leaves should be taken off or shortened, ex- 

 cept on the part that is buried in the ground, when the closer 

 to the stem they are taken off the better. The more leaves a 

 cutting has on it, the sooner it will root, though the majority 

 of propagators trim up these cuttings like a parcel of naked 

 sticks, which is the very reason of their not succeeding. The 

 shallower cuttings are put in the pots the better they root, if 

 they be but well fastened; if planted deep they are more likely 

 to rot or damp off ; the sand or mould in which they are planted 

 must be kept moist, but not too wet, and the glasses must be 

 wiped occasionally, for too much moisture on them will make 

 the cuttings turn mouldy, and rot off, even after they are rooted. 

 When the young plants are rooted, the sooner they are potted 

 off the better, in as small pots as they can safely be got into ; 



