52 the amateur’s flower garden. 
will begin to grow, which is the sign for potting off. Eat 
suppose we have a chrysanthemum instead of a fuchsia. This 
will have a mass of tender shoots rising from the root, and 
there is no need to 
take any of these 
off with a heel. 
With a knife, a pair 
of scissors, or the 
thumb-nail, remove 
a small shoot of not 
more than three or 
four inches in length 
—two inches will be 
sufficient. This will 
probably have some 
such aspect as in 
the figure. All the 
preparation this re¬ 
quires is the re¬ 
moval of the lower 
leaf, to make a suffi¬ 
cient length of clear 
stem for inserting 
it in silver sand. 
Or suppose we have 
instead ahard-wood- 
ed plant of robust 
growth, and which 
is known to be easily rooted, then wo may venture to take a 
still larger cutting. The figure on p. 53 is a side-shoot of Vero¬ 
nica Lindleyana ; it consists of four joints, is young, the wood 
not yet hardened, and needs no preparation at all, because 
there is a proper length of stem for its insertion. In the case of 
plants having large fleshy leaves, it may sometimes be need¬ 
ful to crop off half of every leaf except those next the top 
bud ; but, as a rule, as many leaves should be allowed to 
remain as possible, because the more leaves that can be kept 
alive while the cutting is making roots, the quicker will it 
become a plant. No definite rule can be given on this head 
to guide the inexperienced. It all depends upon how many 
leaves can be kept alive. If the cuttings are to enjoy a brisk 
heat, say 70°, with plenty of atmospheric moisture, then nearly 
