184 THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
the course of a week or so, and they must have a warm moist 
atmosphere, and be kept as near the glass as convenient to 
promote a steady growth. In the case of several plants in a 
pot, they must be shaken out and potted separately in five- 
inch pots as soon as they begin to crowd one another ; but 
when raised singly in pots they may be allowed to attain 
some size before shifting, but it will be advisable to drift them 
into six-inch or eight-inch pots before they acquire that 
yellowish colour which indicates that they are entering upon 
a stage of starvation. If there is no hotbed at work for 
raising plants, a supply may be reared by another method. 
About the middle of March sow singly in three-inch pots, 
and put these pots on a shelf at the end of a greenhouse 
where they will have the full power of the sun upon them 
daily. Keep the soil in the pots fairly moist, and take the 
best care possible that the cool breeze from the ventilators 
does not blow over them. In about a fortnight the plants 
will appear, and may remain on the same shelf until they 
have made some progress, and perhaps until the time arrives 
for planting them out. These will not want a shift, as they 
will not grow so fast as on a dung-bed; but they will be 
thoroughly useful, even if planted out somewhat small, and it 
will be an advantage to them to keep them in the pots until 
the season is well advanced and they may be put out with 
perfect safety. 
In the height of summer plants may be raised from layers 
and cuttings with the greatest ease, A young shoot pegged 
down on the surface of a pot filled with light rich soil, with a 
few crumbs of soil put over it, will make roots in the course 
of a week, and may be separated in about fourteen days from 
the time of layering. It is of course advisable to defer the 
separation until the pot is pretty well filled with roots, and 
then the plant should be left undisturbed for a week to obtain 
firm hold of its independent existence. Cuttings should be 
taken from the extreme points of healthy growing shoots, 
and may be three or four inches long. They must be put 
into small pots singly, and be kept moist and warm, and close 
and shaded. In a propagating-house they make roots in- 
stantly ; but makeshift methods do not answer well except* 
in the height of summer, when cuttings may be inserted in 
the bed the plants are in, and if covered with a bell-glass 
will do very well. 
