12 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
Euphorbia pulcherrima or, as it is commonly called, Poinsettia 
pulcherrima is a plant frequently met with in the East. Its beauty 
does not so much reside in the flowers as in the bracts with which 
they are surrounded. It may be successfully grown in tubs or large 
pots, and small plants are admirably adapted for table decoration. 
Owing to the amount of latex which exudes when a shoot is cut, 
the propagation of this plant is attended with considerable difficulty. 
It is practically useless to attempt to strike newly made cuttings, as 
the greater percentage will shrivel and die. Cuttings of Poinsettia, 
and this applies to many other lacticiferous plants, require to be 
slightly dried before they are inserted. Remove the shoots which 
can he spared from a plant and allow them to lie for about a fort- 
night in a shady, dry situation. The soft, sappy, useless shoots will 
immediately shrivel but the firmer wood at the base of the shoots 
remains sound. At the end of about a fortnight cuttings can be 
made and inserted in pots. 
The size of the cuttings should be about four inches and it is 
essential that the base of the cutting be cut slightly below a node or 
bud, i.e., where the stem is solid. The internodes or other parts of 
the stem are hollow and the shoot has generally to rot away until a 
solid piece of stem is reached. As may readily be imagined it is a 
matter of considerable difficulty to arrest the growth of this rot. 
Insert the cuttings in six inch pots using a sandy compost. 
Cuttings root much more readily when placed round the side of a pot 
so that only four or five should be inserted round the side of the 
above mentioned size of pot. Until the cuttings are rooted, the soil 
requires to be kept slightly drier than is usually the case with other 
plants. Pot off singly into small pots and provide the same treat- 
ment afforded other plants of a like nature. 
J* W. A. 
