JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 8, 1881. ] 
215 
8th 
Th 
Thame Horticultural Show. 
9th 
F 
10th 
S 
11th 
SDN 
loTn SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 
12th 
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13th 
TO 
Royal Horticultural Society—Fruit and Floral Committees at 
14th 
W 
[ 11 A.M. 
THE PROPAGATION OF CONIFERS. 
HE propagation of Conifers scarcely belongs to 
the ordinary routine work of the practical 
gardener, and many in consequence never 
trouble about it. This apathy may be sufficient 
to satisfy a certain class, but with the intelli¬ 
gent gardener and horticulturist the case is 
very different. He not only tries to grasp all the 
information possible on any subject pertaining to 
gardening, but is anxious to obtain a knowledge of 
how nursery stock is raised. Unfortunately many 
know nothing about this work, which is rarely if ever treated 
upon fully in any of the gardening periodicals, and young 
gardeners are at a loss for information on the subject. To 
obtain a knowledge of Conifers and their propagation I had 
to sacrifice the more pleasant work of a private garden for the 
laborious duties of a nursery before my wish was achieved. 
Before passing to the subject of these notes I must say 
that young gardeners are frequently too anxious when they 
are in a nursery to get out again, as if there was nothing to 
learn there. This is a great mistake, and they should seize 
every opportunity of extending their knowledge of nursery 
work whenever a chance presents itself. 
At no period of the year is the propagation both of hardy 
flowering shrubs and Conifers carried on in nurseries with 
greater rapidity than from the present time onwards. The 
majority of Conifers are propagated by means of cuttings 
and grafting, many Pines excepted, and a few common varie¬ 
ties of Cupressus, which are readily raised from seed. The 
system adopted where the work is carried out on a large scale 
entails much labour. Narrow beds are formed about 2 feet 
wide, with a row of bricks placed edgeways on each side of 
the bed, leaving the tops of the bricks just above the soil. 
Handlights or small glazed boxes about the same width, and 
about 3 feet 6 inches in length, are in readiness before the 
cuttings are inserted. A heap of coarse river or red sand is 
placed at hand, and a good proportion is mixed in the soil, the 
surface being covered about half an inch in depth, after which 
it is ready for the cuttings. These, when the wood is fairly 
ripened, are frequently taken from the plants intended for 
sale, and others from stock plants kept in borders for the pur¬ 
pose. Some care is necessary in taking them so that the 
plants be not disfigured. The portions intended for cuttings 
should be so taken that when dressed each will have a heel. It 
is necessary that the cut be cleanly done with a sharp knife. 
The cuttings should be made clean for about an inch of the 
stem near the base, and should be from 2 to 4 inches in length, 
but the length matters little provided a good heel is left 
and the wood is in a proper state of ripeness. This mode of 
making the cuttings applies with equal force to all the Cu¬ 
pressus, Thuias, Retinosporas, and many others, but such kinds 
as Cryptomeria elegans, Retinospora ericoides and others 
equally free strike readily without a heel. 
The cuttings are inserted as thickly as possible under the 
handlights on the prepared border, making the soil firm around 
them. A good watering is then given and the handlights 
placed over them. These miniature frames are generally 
arranged in rows, leaving about 2 inches between each bed to 
allow room for the frames to be removed as occasion may 
require. Little trouble is necessary afterwards, only giving 
shade if the sun proves very hot for a time after the cuttings 
are inserted. It is scarcely necessary to again lift the lights 
before the early spring, as the cuttings seldom need water 
before then. Sufficient will soak in round the handlights 
during wet weather, and keep the soil moist during the 
winter. The cuttings should be kept as close as possible until 
they are well callussed, which will be the ease in spring, as if 
air is given in their early stages many of the cuttings may 
damp off. During winter the only attention that is needed is 
to cover the frames with mats or other protecting material in 
severe weather. It is better if they can be so covered as to 
exclude all frost, but this is not absolutely necessary. I have 
seen the soil frozen hard for a long time and little or no injury 
has resulted therefrom. 
Another course of propagation can be effected by placing 
the cuttings in pots in the Conifer house, which is generally 
kept at a temperature of 40° to 45° during the winter. This 
system is practised to a large extent because smaller cuttings 
can be employed, which is often convenient with new and 
choice varieties. The pots employed are about 8 inches in 
diameter ; they should be half filled with drainage and the 
remaining portion with sandy soil, covering the surface with 
sand. The house best adapted to the propagation of Conifers 
is a span-roofed structure with a walk down the centre and a 
bed on each side. The beds should be covered with lights so 
as to convert them into a frame in which to place the cuttings. 
It is usual to give a slight bottom heat to these beds, which is 
of the utmost value in propagating many Conifers, especially 
those that are grafted. The cuttings inserted in pots are at 
once plunged into the side beds half their depth amongst 
cocoa-nut fibre. Considerable attention is needed when pro¬ 
pagating Conifers in heat, much more so than when they are 
placed outside. They require dewing nearly every morning 
with the syringe, especially when first placed in the pots. If 
the roof of the house is not well shaded the frames in which 
the cuttings are placed must be shaded as soon as the sun shines 
upon them. When in these frames they are generally kept close 
during the day, and the lights lifted at night. They are, how¬ 
ever, liable to damp off in considerable numbers, and every 
particle of decayed matter must be promptly removed. No 
doubt the better system is to keep them close for a time with¬ 
out opening the frame except to give water, and this will be 
seldom required if the soil is well soaked at first. 
The cuttings, as a rule, are a long time before they are 
callussed, but when they once attain that stage there is but 
little fear that they will afterwards be lost. In the spring 
when those in pots have commenced rooting they are removed 
to frames. In cold severe weather a little warmth should at 
No. 63.— Vol. III., Third Series, 
No. 1719.—Yol. LXVI., Old series. 
