PROPAGATING DRAC.-ENAS AND NEPENTHES. 



sufficient stem, then set in 3-inch pots and placed in the 

 propagating case. The older stems of the plants were 

 cut into pieces from one to two inches in length, placed 

 in a 6-inch pot of light soil and covered with sand. 

 The shoots from these were also to be seen at this date. 



December ii, two top cuttings were put in 3'2-inch 

 pots. One showed roots January 15, and both were 

 nicely rooted January 27, with strong, healthy roots cir- 

 cling around the bottom of 

 the pots. Several of the in- 

 ner leaves of the plant of 

 D. terminalis layered in the 

 tin funnel from December 

 4 to January 13 had par- 

 tially shriveled and died. 

 At the latter date these 

 leaves were cut away, the 

 funnel removed, and the 

 top cut off and simply set 

 in the moss in the propa- 

 ' gating case, without any 

 soil whatever. January 27, 

 only twelve days after- 

 ward, it was breaking for 

 roots, and January 31, 

 there were roots one-fourth 

 to one-half an inch long. 

 The same day, January 31, 

 a cutting of D. Yoiingi was 

 put in the moss in a part 

 of the propagating case 

 which receives somewhat 

 stronger bottom heat. The 

 bark at the base of this cut- 

 ting was slit with a single 

 cut of the knife on two 

 sides, and on two other 

 sides a narrow strip was 

 taken out. February 7, 

 just one week afterward, 

 two roots had formed well 

 up the side of the stem. 

 The bark at the base of 

 the stem was breaking for 

 roots between the cuts, but 

 showed little or no signs of 

 rooting directly from them, 

 indicating that these were 

 rather a disadvantage than 

 otherwise. 



February 12, a plant of 

 D. brazilicnsis, which had been la^■ered two months in 

 a pot sawed in halves, was examined and showed no signs 

 of rooting. One plant layered in this manner has pro- 

 duced roots, as can be seen by digging into the soil. 



From these trials it would seem that cuttings are pre- 

 ferable to stem-rooting by layers, if a suitable place for 

 propagating is at hand, it being much quicker and equally 

 certain — not a plant or even a leaf having been lost from 



The Spanish Lily, Hymenocallis. 



any of these cuttings, except from the one first layered in 

 tin. I'robably rooting would be more certain with an 

 incision half way through the stem, diminishing the flow 

 of sap somewhat ; this was not done in most of these 

 cases. F'artially girdling the stem just below the pot 

 might produce the same effect. Keeping the soil about 

 the old roots dry and that in the upper pot moist would 

 also be likely to aid in the formation of roots there. By 



this treatment we have the 

 top of our plant as hand- 

 some as before, not a leaf 

 being lost in the operation, 

 with the additional advan- 

 tage of a low plant in a 

 small pot, with young, vig- 

 orous and healthy roots. 



The propagating case 

 used in rooting such plants 

 is a very useful and very 

 simple affair. It consists 

 of a box about 4 feet long, 

 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep, 

 with tight board sides and 

 two small sash of two lights 

 each, like the ones often 

 used for cellar windows, 

 hinged on top. This is 

 placed just over the pipes 

 to get good bottom heat. 

 Common roofing slates are 

 used for the bottom, and 

 may be held in place by 

 slats. The slate is covered 

 with three or four inches of 

 moist sphagnum moss 

 Such a case could be read- 

 ily made by any one accus- 

 tomed to using tools. In 

 it the most fastidious trop- 

 ical plants take root read- 

 ily, either directly in the 

 moss or in pots plunged in 

 it. A little air is given un- 

 der the sash. It is sur- 

 prising to lift some of 

 these cuttings with a hand- 

 ful of moss and find it filled 

 with roots. 



Cuttings of Nepenthes 

 are considered among the 

 most difficult plants to 

 root, but in this case it is done readily. The cutting is 

 stuck through the drainage hole in a small pot from the 

 bottom, and the pot inverted in the moss. The fine 

 black roots, which look something like coarse horse 

 hairs, form from the end of the cutting, inside the pot. 

 When the plant is well rooted, the pot is broken to free the 

 plant, which is then potted off in very coarse material. 

 Pcnnsvlvania. Fred. W. Card. 



