BEDDING PLANTS. 
53 
heat will do wonders at this time of year, and by devoting a few 
specimens solely to the purpose of propagation, and keeping 
them shut up, a plentiful supply of cuttings may be obtained of 
the best description, as they will be in a growing state when 
taken off, which, it is well known to all who have attempted the 
matter, is half the battle. 
To obviate the danger of excessive damp, to which all cuttings 
are subject when struck in hot-beds, after much consideration I 
determined to adopt the principle before mentioned; and though 
the mode is opposed to the usual practice, and, at first sight may 
not promise much, the success attending it has led me to continue 
it for several seasons. Starting with the idea that the injurious 
effects of the vaporous atmosphere of the hot-bed was due to its 
action upon the stomata, by entering them in an unnatural man¬ 
ner, it became necessary to prevent this action, and knowing that 
bell-glasses, with their attendant trouble of wiping daily or 
almost hourly, were ineffectual, I determined to fill the cuttings 
themselves with moisture, which must necessarily prevent the 
entrance of any more in the manner to be feared; accordingly, 
after being trimmed in the usual way, they were stuck into pans 
filled with very wet sand, which, having no holes in the bottom, 
retained all the water put in them, and by using enough to form 
a puddle with the sand, the cuttings, even of the most tender 
kind, are inserted with the greatest ease. So situated, I found 
the greatest heat or most excessive moisture of the beds had no 
effect on my cuttings; in fact, the latter, under such circum¬ 
stances, merely prevents evaporation through the leaves, and in 
an incredibly short time each cutting forms a series of beautiful 
roots, many of them, not only from the base but up the entire 
length of stem inserted in the sand, and may be lifted out with 
the hand, without the slightest danger of breaking them. Some 
care is necessary to harden the young plants after being potted, 
but the same is necessary by whatever mode they are propagated; 
and this possesses advantages in being more certain, quicker, and 
allowing smaller pieces to be used as cuttings, for the least of 
them are no more trouble than large ones. The method is, per¬ 
haps, not suited for winter propagation, but in summer I have 
ever found it the best. 
\ Essex. J. Smee. 
