RAISING PLANTS FROM CUTTINGS. 



171 



an inch from the base of the midrib. The 



dotted part, shown in the upper half of the 



annexed leaf, was removed 



in order to put the leaf 



into a little pot, but this 



did not prevent the success 



of the cutting. 



Scale - Cuttings. ■■ 



These cuttings are made 

 with the scales of Liliace- 

 ous plants ; such scales are 

 planted either upright or 

 flat, are covered with about 

 l-16th of an inch of earth, 

 and are placed in an at- 

 mosphere neither too dry 

 nor too moist : it is in this 

 manner that quantities of 

 Japan lilies are multiplied. 

 Liliaceous plants are also 

 propagated by cutting their Fi? 45— r/ieoMra^ja la- 



i '^ °. J *' ,, ^ , tifoha, struck fruiiicitt- 



leaves in two or three pla- Hngs of a leaf. 



ces along their length ; such 



leaves do not send out roots, but they give 



birth, at their mutilated parts, to little scaly 



bulbs which, the following year, are separated, 



and afterwards managed like the cloves of 



bulbs. 



Cuttings in Water. — This kind of pro- 

 pagation demands constant care and minute 

 attention. We employ ripe wood, as in cut- 

 tings of branches. As soon as the roots com- 

 mence lengthening, which wc can easily see 

 through the sides of the 

 bottle in which the cut- 

 ting is placed, we im- 

 mediately take it out, 

 and plant it in a pot, 

 where it is treated as if 

 it had no roots, until 

 we see that they have 

 reached the sides of the 

 pot. The cutting is i! 

 then sufficiently strong 

 to be gradually accus- 

 tomed to the atmos- 

 phere in which it is to 

 live. I have thus made 

 plants take root, which 

 I have not been able to '^' 

 multiply by any other 

 means. In consequence of the difficulties 

 which this proceeding offers, I do not advise 

 the practice of it, exce))t for Pine-apples, 



A Pine-apple struck 

 in water. 



when it is rather an amusement than a truly 

 useful thing. A sucker, or better, a crown 

 of a Pine-apple, previously dried, and put into 

 a decanter or bottlefuU of water, and placed 

 upon the stove of a green-house, or of a room, 

 and exposed to light, will grow and produce a 

 small fruit, which will have as much fra- 

 grance as one grown in earth, (fig. 46.) 



Cuttings in Trenches. — The plan of 

 striking cuttings in trenches is generally 

 adopted in the Colonies for sugar-canes and 

 bamboos. For propagating the cane, we use 

 cuttings 10 or 12 inches long (fig. 47,) which 

 we lay horizontally in a little trench U inches 

 deep. We then cover them with a little 

 earth, and in a short time they send forth 

 roots and buds at each joint. The bamboo is 

 multiplied in the same manner. If we lay a 

 long stem in a trench, _ ^ _ ^ 



Fis 



. 47. — Cuttings of a Sugar- 

 cane. 



the young buds which 



come out of each of 



the joints will soon 



make a little plant. 



In green-houses, 



where the space docs not allow of cuttings of 



this sort, bamboos are multiplied (juite as well 



by placing them upright in the ground 



XIV. Slit Cuttings. — There are some 

 plants whose cuttings root best if a slit is 

 made in their lower part, a piece of sponge 

 being introduced, as at fig. 48 ; Carolinea, 

 arborescent Bignonias, &c., take root well in 

 this manner. 



Layer Cuttings. — For plants difficult to 



Fig. 48. Fig. 49. 



Cuttings of arborescent Bignonias. 



strike I have thought of what I call layer- 

 cutting (fig. 49,) from which I have obtained 

 good results. This consists in making a Ion- 



