grown from cuttings or layers in open ground, opinions differ very much, and both have their advocates. For my part, I do not see why a plant grown carefully from a single eye should not be as good as one propagated by any other method; a poor plant is not worth having, whether propagated by this or any other method, and, unfortunately, we have too many of them.

THE PROPAGATING HOUSE.

I will only give a description of a lean-to of the cheapest kind, for which any common hot-bed sash, six feet long, can be used.

Choose for a location the south side of a hill, as, by making the house almost entirely underground, a great deal of building material can be saved. Excavate the ground as for a cellar—say five feet deep on the upper side, seven feet wide, and of any length to suit convenience, and the number of plants you wish to grow. Inside of the excavation set posts or scantlings, the upper row to be seven feet long above the ground, and two feet below the ground; the lower row four and one-half feet above the ground, so that the roof will have about two and one-half feet pitch. Upon these nail the rafters, of two-inch planks. Then take boards, say common inch-plank, and set them up behind the posts, one above the other, to prevent the earth from falling in. This will make all the wall that is needed on both sides. On the ends, boards can be nailed to both sides of the posts, and the intervening space tilled with spent tan or saw-dust. Upon the rafters place the sash on the lower side; the upper side may be covered with boards or shingles, where also the ventilating holes can be left, to be closed with trap-doors. The house is to be divided into two compartments—the furnace-room on one end, about eight feet long, and the propagating house, The furnace is below the ground, say four feet long, the flue to be made of brick, and to extend under the whole length of the bench. To make the flue, lay a row of bricks flat and crosswise; on the ends of these place two others on their edges, and across the top lay a row flat, in the same way as the bottom ones were placed. This gives the flue four inches by eight in the clear. The flue should rise rather abruptly from the furnace, say about a foot; it can then be carried fifty feet with, say six to nine inches rise, and still have sufficient draft. Inside of the propagating room we have again two compartments—the propagating bench, nearest to the furnace, and a shelf for the reception of the young plants, after their first transplanting from the cutting-pots or boxes. Make a shelf or table along the whole length of the house; at the lower end it should be about eighteen inches from the glass, and five feet wide. To a house of, say fifty feet, the propagating bench may be, say twelve feet long, and the room below it and around the flue should be inclosed with boards, as it will keep the heat better.

MODE OF OPERATING.

The wood should be cut from the vines in the fall, as soon as the leaves have dropped. For propagating, use only firm, well-ripened wood of the last season's growth, and about medium thickness. These are to be preferred to either very large or very small ones. The time to commence operating will vary according to climate; here it should be the early part of February. The wood to be used for propagating can be kept in a cool cellar, in sand, or buried in the ground out doors. Take out the cuttings, and cut them up into pieces as represented in Figure 1.