376 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
extra large tops on old plants are wished to be removed, then 
the process of ringing " must be resorted to. They are also 
raised from seed, this plan being adopted mostly for the pro- 
duction of new varieties. The wood of the branches or tops 
chosen for propagating should be firm to root them quickly, as, 
if the cuttings taken are too tender, they take a long time to 
root, and many leaves dry up and drop. Each cutting should 
be clean cut with a sharp knife under a node or leaf -joint, and 
may be put singly in small pots in light sandy soil, and placed 
under a bell-glass. The way for raising large quantities 
is to plant them in a bed, under lights in cocoa-fibre refuse 
or sand. During the time they are to make their roots [the 
material must be kept in a moist state, and never allowed to 
become dry. The bottom heat of the bed should vary from 
75° to 80°, and the cuttings should be kept carefully shaded 
until they have rooted. Many varieties will be found sufficiently 
rooted to be potted into small pots at the end of three weeks ; a 
few will take a month. After being potted in small pots ^they 
should again be placed in a close case for a fortnight or so, till 
well rooted. A little air may then be admitted and the young 
plants gradually hardened off, so that they can be shifted into 
another house if desired. The soil for potting the cuttings 
should be hght, with a fourth part of sand ; but, as the young 
plants improve and require shifting into larger pots, the soil 
recommended for full-grown plants should be used. 
When large tops are to be rooted, that part of the stem of 
the old plant where the roots are desired to be formed, should 
have a few leaves removed, one or two incisions made with a 
sharp knife, and some Sphagnum Moss put round the stem and 
firmly tied with a little matting. Another plan is to put a 60 or 
48 pot round the stem, cut the pot in halves, lengthways, and 
place the two halves on opposite sides of the stem, then fill the 
pot up with a mixture of fibrous peat, from which the finer 
portions have been removed, Sphagnum Moss, and a little sand, 
In this material large tops root freely, if the compost is kept 
uniformly moist. Generally about a month elapses before roots 
begin to appear, and as soon as the pot is well filled with roots, 
a larger one should be put round. This is very necessary in all 
casos where the top is at all large and heavy, as by this means more 
roots will be formed and the newly struck plant will then stand 
