Vegetative Multiplication and Plant Propagation 227 



Office of Farm Management {J. S. Gates) 



Fig. 131. "Sets" of wild garlic, showing the flowering heads, in some instances entirely- 

 made up of small bulbs. These small bulbs are very effective in spreading the plant, which 

 often becomes a serious weed in pastures. 



tain varieties of onion are examples of crop plants started in 

 this way. Propagation by bulbs, corms, or rootstocks is the 

 method commonly employed in starting hlies, tulips, hya- 

 cinths, irises, cannas, caladiums, and chrysanthemums. Most 

 of our fruit trees are multiplied by budding and grafting, which 

 are specialized methods of vegetative propagation. Geraniums, 

 coleus, willows, currants, grapes, and most ornamental shrubs 

 are grown from cuttings. These cuttings are pieces of a stem 

 usually containing several nodes. Cuttings with a single node 

 may be used when it is desired to propagate from a very Hmited 

 supply of stock. It is obvious that a cutting must either have 

 a small leaf surface or sufficient stored food to carry on growth 

 until a leaf surface is developed. 



Hardwood cuttings. Cuttings from woody plants are usually 

 made when the wood is dormant in the fall or early winter. They 

 are immediately tied in bundles of twenty-five or more, and buried 

 in a trench with the uppermost buds turned downward. Sand 

 or fight soil is then added until the basal ends are covered 2 or 3 

 inches. This method of storage lessens the freezing and thawing 



