ING HOUSES AND OTHER THINGS.

In the days of our boyhood the propagating house was, in the more
pretentious nurseries, a very sacred place, under lock and key, and some
of its mysteries supposed to be so profound that prying eyes of other
establishments were not welcome.

Bell glasses in those days were thought to be indispensable, and some of
the plants desired to be propagated were found to require months,
sometimes nearly a year, before they could be transferred from the
cutting pots. The hot-water tanks, and other bottom heat appliances of
the present day were then unknown; and these appliances have resulted in
greater simplicity of management. Still we are bound to admit that the
demands here generally embrace a class of plants that, as a rule, are
found to root the most readily, while those that have always been known
to tax the propagator's skill, as the Heaths, New Holland, and others
called hard wooded plants, are but little called for in this market.

At that time nearly everything was placed in pots of almost pure white
sand, surrounded by the ordinary atmosphere of the house; while nowadays
the establishment must be small indeed if it does not contain some place
where the bed is so arranged that the heat at the bottom is from ten to
fifteen degrees above that of the house proper. Here lies the whole
secret as to whether it is a part of a single green-house or a house
devoted exclusively to propagating purposes. For the purpose of being
able at all times to control the temperature of the top, the propagating
house has often a northern exposure, except in the very dead of winter.
With a bright, clear sun above it is almost impossible in the daytime to
keep down the temperature of the house sufficiently to prevent the young
cuttings from wilting, after which disaster is very likely to follow in
their final rooting. Given a top temperature never above 55 or 65
degrees, with a bottom always from 10 to 15 degrees higher, if the
cuttings are in good shape it is a simple matter to root them in from
seven to fifteen days; though the time it takes depends, of course, upon
the plant and condition of the wood. At first efforts used to be
contrived to get this bottom heat by means of the old flue system, with
plenty of material covering the bricks, to break, in part, the dry
burning nature of the heat.

Then hot water came in and furnished what was thought the acme of a
propagator, and tanks of elaborate workmanship