July 2S, If 85. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
09 
have found nothing better than sawdust or cocoa-nut fibre refuse— 
where miscellaneous cuttings are rooted. Those of a soft nature require 
a good watering after insertion, and then if the pots are plunged in a 
close frame they rarely require water again until after they are rooted ; 
but for cuttings of Crotons, Dracaenas, Ixoras, Gardenias, and many others 
a mere sprinkle to moisten the foliage after insertion is sufficient if the 
condition of the soil of the plunged plants after their pots are full of 
roots will be found upon examination to be very similar as regards 
moisture to what it was when the pots were first filled. 
The advantages of plunging the pots may be further demonstrated by 
reference to the same kind of plants. Plants rooted without watering 
the soil have been transferred into larger pots, and in several instances 
Fig. 11 .—Sir Hugh Low’s Bornean Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes Lowi, Hook , fil .) 
soil is in a satisfactory state when the pots are filled. These cuttings 
should be inserted singly in small pots, and if plunged cover the pots and 
surface of the soil with the material used ; they will need no water until 
they are rooted. Cuttings treated on this system will fill their pots with 
roots by the time others watered in the ordinary way and stood upon the 
surface of the plunging material commence the formation of roots. The 
repotted a second time, and have filled their pots with roots before water 
was given them. I believe it possible to shift plants until they are of a 
large size before it is necessary to apply water to the soil. Evaporation 
is arrested by this simple process, and the soil in the pots will remain in 
an intermediate state of moisture for a long time, which is the most 
suitable condition that can be mainta : ned for encouraging the formation 
