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FLORICULTURAL HINTS. 
FLORICXJLTURAL HINTS. 
The propagation of picotees and carnations by layers and cut¬ 
tings will occupy first attention through the first fortnight of this 
month. Those who have tlieir plants early may possibly have 
begun it already, but if proceeded with at once no time need be 
deemed lost. As I am writing for the tyro, it may be well to 
describe the operation of layering in detail. The requisites are 
a number of small pegs, either of fern or the twigs of old birch 
brooms, or, where these are not easily procurable, leaden hooks 
are sometimes used, which have an advantage in durability, as 
they last and are at hand for several seasons; a sufficiency of 
light rich soil must also be prepared, loam, leaf-mould, and sand, 
in about equal quantities, w 7 ell mixed and sifted, is perhaps the 
best; these, with a long-handled budding-knife, having a narrow 
blade with a very sharp edge, being at hand, we may commence, 
by trimming away the lower leaves of such of the lateral shoots 
as are intended to be layed; when these are prepared, the surface 
of the old soil in the pots should be well stirred, and part of it 
removed if at all mossy or sour, and some of the fresh mixture 
introduced; about a couple of inches of this is necessary to 
facilitate the rooting of the layers, which are then to be formed 
by entering the knife a little below a joint, and allowing it to 
proceed just into the centre of the stem,, the cut should be 
brought upwards through the joint for about an inch and a half; 
on withdrawing the knife, a tongue will have been formed, the 
tip, or that portion below the joint, is then to be cut off, and the 
layer may be pegged down at once. 
In the event of there being a great number of layers in the 
pot, it may be necessary to trim off the points of the remaining 
leaves, to prevent crowding, but the practice has nothing to do 
with the production of roots, as is sometimes supposed. When 
any of the shoots are produced so high up the stem that it is 
impossible to lay them on the surface of the pot, it may be 
necessary to place another small one to receive the layer, and in 
the after-management, this will require a good deal of attention 
to keep it properly moist. The whole of the layers being put 
down, the pots must be removed to a shaded position, and if 
