dry them out.

Make a flat similar to that used for starting seeds, but four or five
inches deep. Place in the bottom an inch or two of gravel or coal ashes,
covered lightly with moss or a single thickness of old bag, and then
fill nearly full of clean sand. Make this level, and give a thorough
soaking. After drying out for an hour or so, it is ready for the
cuttings.

Mark the box off in straight lines, two or three inches apart, and
insert the cuttings as closely as possible without touching, and to a
depth of about one-third or one-half their length. A small, pointed
stick, or dibber, will be convenient in getting them in firmly. Wet them
down to pack the sand closely around them.

The best temperature for the room in which the cutting box is to be kept
will be from fifty to fifty-five degrees at night. Like the seed box,
however, it will be greatly helped by ten or fifteen degrees of bottom
heat in addition. For method of giving this extra bottom heat, see page
26.

If the box is kept in a bright sunny place, shade the cuttings with a
piece of newspaper during the heat of the day, to prevent wilting, and
if the weather is so hot that the room is warmer than seventy degrees,
an occasional light sprinkling will help to keep them fresh.

Never let the sand dry out or all your work will be lost. As a rule, it
will require a thorough soaking every morning.

With these precautions taken, the cuttings should begin to throw out
roots in from eight to twenty days, according to conditions and
varieties. Do not let them stay in the sand after the roots form; it is
much better to pot them off at once, before the roots get more than half
an inch long. If some of the cuttings have not rooted but show a
granulated condition where they were cut, they will be safe to pot off,
as they will, as a rule, root in the soil.

The above method is the one usually employed. There is another, however,
just as easy and more certain in results, especially where bottom heat
cannot easily be had. It is called the "saucer" system of propagation.
Make the cuttings as described above. Put the sand in a deep,
water-tight dish, such as a glazed earthenware dish or a deep soup
plate, and pack the cuttings in as thickly as necessary. Wet the sand to
the consistency of mud and keep the dish in a warm light place. The
temperature may be higher than when using the sand box, and there will
not be a necessity for shading. _The sand must be kept const