THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 25. 
1!)2 
assign reasons Tor referring to these matters now, such as 
the importance of being “ ready, aye, ready.” That to be 
“ forewarned is to be forearmed,” nay, that heaths may 
be struck in December, and in every month of Lho year, 
and that, in fact, the state of the cutting, and the cir¬ 
cumstances in which it is placed, so that that state and 
these circumstances may act iix unison, are of much 
more importance than any specified time; for in this, and 
every other case, time does not regulate these matters, so 
much as they fix and point out the time. When, therefore, 
in this work, and also in The Cottage Gardener’s Diction¬ 
ary, a certain period is mentioned as the best for propa¬ 
gating by cuttings certain plants, let it be understood 
that the time specified is that in which, under ordinary 
circumstances, the young shoots will be in the most 
suitable state, but never lose sight of the fact that the 
state of the cutting as young, ripe, or partly ripened — 
the glints of shoots, or side-shoots, taken off, with or 
without a heel, &c., &c., are of far more importance than 
the adhering to any month in the year. Two men may 
cultivate their plants equally well, but by starting them 
into growth at different periods, and other matters, the 
cuttings from one might be in the best order in March, 
while J une might arrive before the other’s were equally 
favourable. Having previously disposed of all the pre¬ 
liminaries necessary, so far as pots, soil, and glasses were 
concerned, and keeping these remarks in view, I will 
now proceed to consider 
3rdly.— The best time for talcing off the cuttings : the 
suitable condition in which the cutting should be when 
taken : the position in which they should be placed and 
kept, and their future general treatment. 
1st.—The best time for taking off the cuttings, other 
things being favourable, is from the middle of February to 
the end of April, or the beginning of May, as if inserted 
thus early, the free-growing kinds may be pricked and 
potted off before winter, and if invigorated with a fresh 
shift, the following spring will make nice bushy plants 
before the end of the summer. The slow-growing kinds, 
if inserted thus early, may be pricked out, three or four 
round the sides of a pot, when there is enough of the 
autumn left to enable them to get hold in their fresh 
quarters, and all those kinds which, though blooming 
late in autumn, and through the winter, do not bloom so 
thoroughly as to prevent the growing of young shoots, 
may have many points of leading shoots, and more still 
of nice stubby side-shoots, fitted for cuttings at this 
early period. Otliors, again, that flower late, may have 
their growth expedited by being gently forced, when 
the obtaining of young plants early is considered a mat¬ 
ter of great moment; and cuttings taken off in good 
condition, after this stimulus given to fresh growth, 
strike more quickly than in any other circumstances. 
All who by means of placing a heath in a vinery, peach- 
house, or any place where an average rise of 10° is 
obtained for a few weeks over the average temperature of 
the greonhouse, will be in a position to obtain this ad¬ 
vantage. An accelerating influence may also be given 
by enclosing the plant in a hand-light, even in the green¬ 
house, and thus curtailing the quantity of air given. 
Without these helps, and even with them, in the case of 
many summer-blooming plants, which make little wood 
while blooming, we must be content to take cuttings in 
summer and autumn, and even in winter, but, in most 
of these cases, we must expect to keep them in the cut¬ 
ting-pots all the winter, or even to give them the lift of 
a nice little hot-bed in spring. Spring, therefore, when 
tho condition of the cutting is suitable, is the best 
time for propagating, but not so superlatively so, as 
to lead us to “ give up” when other conditions in the 
cutting are favourable. What then 
2ndly, are these conditions ? The plant from whence 
tho cuttings are taken should be sturdy and healthy, not 
weakly or diseased. The lattor will often strike freely 
enough, but are apt to carry their constitutional infirmi¬ 
ties with them. There is more analogy, in this respect, 
between tho vegetable and animal economy than many 
seem to imagine. Again, from a vigorous growing plant, 
choose the points of the medium-sized side-shoots, not 
the central or more succulent free-growing ones. In a 
rather weakly plant, do just the reverse. High vital 
action, free from the extremes of weakness and over- 
vigour, is the desideratum. Only the mere points of 
the shoots are generally used, and, therefore, we may 
well bestow a little care in their selection. The length of 
the cuttings generally ranges from one to one-and-half- 
incli in free-growing kinds, such as Wilmoreana and 
Linnceides, and from half to one inch in the case of 
slow-growing kinds, such as Tricolor and llarinclli. 
The cuttings are thus entirely, or nearly so, of the cur¬ 
rent seasons’ growth, not but that larger and older cut¬ 
tings may succeed, especially if supplied with a warm, 
moist atmosphere, and more especially still, if such 
pieces of several inches in length, received a notch with 
a clean, sharp knife, some weeks before finally separa¬ 
ting them from the mother plant. Such pieces 1 have 
seen do well, and they required much less of what some 
would dccmjinicking attention, either in preparing them 
or in their future management. If, however, there was 
a gain in saving of labour, it was more than counter¬ 
balanced in the loss of time in striking them when 
established, with these tit bits generally used. The con¬ 
dition of these little points is, therefore, a matter of pri¬ 
mary importance. They must neither be old and hard- 
wooded, nor young and soft, and succulent, but just in the 
happy medium between the two. If too hard, they will 
exhaust your patience in waiting for roots, even though 
they keep, or seem by the top to keep, alive. If too soft, 
all your labour and schemes will not keep them from 
damping. If they feel firmish when pressed between 
the thumb and finger, present considerable resistance to 
the knife, and the lower part is tinged with a brownish, 
ripened appearance, these may severally be considered 
good omens. When a plant is forced into growth, as 
soon as the shoots are near long enough, it should under¬ 
go a process of hardening off again, before the cuttings 
are removed. In all shy kinds, the nearer the cut is 
made at the point of junction between the old and new 
growth, the better, provided the cut is actually made in 
the new. 
3rdly. Malting and inserting the cuttings. These aro 
delightful but delicate operations — and that cannot be 
hurried. In such short young pieces as recommended 
above, nearly one-half is generally inserted in the sand 
in the prepared pots, and that part, therefore, must be 
deprived of its foliage. For this purpose some use small, 
sharp-pointed scissors. I prefer a very sharp pen or 
budding-knife. The great thing is to remove the foliage 
cleanly, without hurting the bark, though doing this very 
slightly is not so injurious as leaving any parts of the 
foliage. This done, the cutting must be cut clean across, 
horizontally, at the base of where a leaf stood, if the 
foliage is at all thin, either horizontally or in a diagonal 
line, if the foliage was thick set, tho great thing in tho 
latter and former case being to have a smooth, clean cut, 
which is generally effected by placing the base of the 
cutting on the thumb nail, and there cutting it with a 
lance-like knife. The next thing, when allowed to lie a 
little for the wounds to heal, is to insert them, not over 
thick, in tho prepared pots. Wo suppose they have 
been wetted and drained. Before planting the cuttings 
we must see if tho surface is smooth and level. If at all 
wet, a little dry sand sprinkled on tho surface and 
pressed down tight, will make it all nice for dibbling. 
The dibber should consist of a piece of hard wood, 
brought to a point as fine as the size of the cuttings to 
be inserted. Whore nicety is an object, one made of 
bono, like a bodkiu, would take and keep a fitter point. 
