BUDS ON ROOTS. 27 



only, gave rise to ten, obliges us to suppose that these protoplasts of the growing 

 tissue of the root, which separated themselves off under the influence of the new 

 conditions created by the felling of the tree, arranged themselves in ten groups 

 and each group from that time forth devoted itself to the new task of furthering 

 the growth of the shoot developing at its centre. On investigation we find that these 

 aggregations of cells are invariably situated in the deeper layers of the rind. In the 

 first place a delicate tissue is developed from a particular cell which dominates the 

 entire group and governs the process of construction. This tissue pushes outwards, 

 on the one hand, towards the superficial layers of the rind, whilst, on the other hand, 

 it sends a shaft inwards into the cambium layer of the root. Immediately afterwards 

 vascular bundles are developed, and the shaft-like rudiment of the young bud is 

 through them placed in connection with the woody tissue of the root, and when all 

 this is finished the rind is finally broken through, and a bud clothed with leaves 

 behind its growing point bursts out through the opening. 



These buds, and the shoots arising from them, are termed radical buds and 

 shoots. They are anything but rare, and it would be an error to suppose that they 

 only occur on the Aspen because that tree has been chosen to illustrate the subject. 

 Not only a great number of trees, but also many shrubs, and a host of herbaceous 

 plants, great and small, exhibit this kind of revival and multiplication, and for 

 many species it is the safest and most fruitful mode of reproduction. It would also 

 be wrong to suppose that radical buds only arise when the aerial parts of the plant 

 concerned have been injured or destroyed in consequence of some unusual occurrence. 

 A shock of the kind is certainly the most frequent cause; but it is equally certain 

 that of trees and shrubs not a few develop rudimentary buds on their roots when 

 their time comes — i.e. when they have become decrepit, and one branch after another 

 is dying — without their having suffered any injury from worm or weather, or from 

 the woodman's axe. A profuse after-growth of young plants always springs from 

 the roots and surrounds old and dry trees of the following kinds: — the Aspen 

 (Populus tremiila), the Tree of Heaven (Äilanthus glandulosa), the Tulip -tree 

 (Liriodendron tulipifera), and the Osage Orange {Madura aurantiaca), and the 

 same statement applies to the following shrubs when they begin to wither — the 

 Raspberry (Riibus Idceus), the Sea-Buckthorn (Hippoj^hae), the Hawthorn (Cra- 

 tcegus), the Barberry (Berberis), the Lilac (Si/ringa), and the Rose {Rosa), and to 

 many other woody plants; whereas, no such "breaking" from the root is seen on 

 young specimens of the above unless there has been some previous injury to the 

 parts above ground. 



The budding power of roots is made use of by gardeners for the purpose of arti- 

 ficial propagation. They cut pieces from the roots of the plants they wish to 

 multiply and insert them in soil which is kept moist, and they may then count 

 almost with certainty upon the development of several buds on each separate piece 

 of root. This mode of propagation by root-cuttings or slips, as they are called, is 

 attended by particularly successful results when applied to the flowering trees or 

 shrubs of Gydonia Japonica, Pauloiunia imperialis, Tecoma radicans, Dais cotoni- 



