Cuttings usually "strike" better when they touch the side of the pot than when they are wholly surrounded by soil. This is because the earthenware allows greater uniformity in moisture than the earth, and supplies air and a mild bottom heat. Various devices are employed for the purpose of securing these advantages to the best effect. These are usually double pots, in one of which water is placed. A good method is that represented in Fig. 41, which shows a pot, _b_, plugged with plaster of Paris at the bottom, placed inside a larger one. The earth is placed between the two, drainage material occupying the bottom, _a_, and fine soil the top, _c_. Water stands in the inner pot as high as the dotted line and feeds uniformly into the surrounding soil. The positions of the water and soil are frequently reversed, but in that case there is less space available for cuttings. Neumann's cutting-pot is shown in Fig. 42. This contains an inverted pot in the center, _a_, designed to supply drainage and to admit heat into the center of the mass of soil. [Illustration: Fig. 41. Forsyth's Cutting-pot.] Some kind of protection, commonly combined with bottom heat, is always given cuttings made from the soft and growing parts. In in-door work, any of the devices named above may be employed, but a box like that shown in Fig. 32 is one of the most useful for common operations. Or the greenhouse itself may afford sufficient protection, especially if the cuttings are shaded when first set to check evaporation from the plant and soil, and to prevent too great heat. This shading is usually supplied by whitewashing the glass, or a newspaper may be laid over the cutting bed for a few days. A greenhouse table or bench prepared for the growing of cuttings is known as a "cutting bench." If the cuttings become too dry or too hot, they will wilt or "flag." In out-door work soft cuttings are usually placed in an ordinary cold-frame, and these frames must be shaded. They may be placed under trees or on the shady side of a building, or if they are numerous, as in commercial establishments, a cloth screen should be provided as shown in Fig. 5, page 13. [Illustration: Fig. 42. Neumann's Cutting-pot.]