204 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



In starting layers, if a cut is made in the lower side — making it 

 rather long and almost to the centre of the stalk, — so it will stay 

 apart when pressed back into the soil — this will greatly aid the for- 

 mation of roots, as they start more readily from a calloused surface. 

 In fact, this is about the only way some varieties of the gooseberry 

 and other hardy plants, such as roses, can be induced to root to 

 any extent when propagated in the open. 



As in the production of other kinds of nursery stock, the season, 

 soil and care has much to do with the quantity and quality. 



The President : I would suggest that these cuttings be set in 

 very shallow trenches and very near together, two inches apart, and 

 have the ground slope a very little, so that in a dry time you can 

 throw a pail of water on to the upper end of the shallow trench and 

 water every little slip in the whole trench in that way at the same 

 time. In that way you can water three or four hundred in a minute. 

 If you put them farther apart you will have to carry more w^ater. 



Mr. Frank Yahnke : In dry prairie soil it will be very much bet- 

 ter if you make a trench to fill in before planting with sand and 

 then set your cuttings in immediately and cover in with common dirt. 

 They will start right away. 



Mr. Oliver Gibbs : Has there been any difference discovered in 

 the fruiting qualities betw^een layered and cutting plants ? Does the 

 layered plant bear better than the cutting? 



Mr. Yahnke : I never noticed any difference between layers 

 and cuttings, and I have planted both extensively, but there is a dif- 

 ference in the bushes. I w^ould not like to propagate from any bush 

 that is not good ; it might influence the progeny. 



Prof. E. S. Goff"(Wis) : The gentleman stated, and I think we 

 have been taught in books and other publications, that only young 

 wood should be used for cuttings. I visited one of our largest Wis- 

 consin currant growers and was surprised at the way he did his 

 propagating. He did not use young wood, but he took his cuttings 

 from the older wood. He took the prunings from the oldest 

 branches that got down where the currants got dirty. He cuts them 

 out and then he cuts the branches off at every joint and leaves on a 

 small shoot of young wood, which he uses as a cutting". They were 

 very finely rooted ; in fact, I found they were so nicely rooted that I 

 could make several plants of them. It may possibly mean earlier 

 bearing. This gentleman said he had adopted this method, because 

 he found it better in his own work. He cut them off in the spring 

 and planted them in the ground. I wish to be understood, however, 

 that all of these cuttings had a bud at least of young wood, or one or 

 two buds of young wood somewhere on them, but they included a 

 portion of the older wood, so that every branch of old cane that has 

 an inch or two of young wood can be used for cuttings. 



Mr. W. D. Harris : I have tried a similar plan in propagating 

 gooseberries. The method is early in the spring before the bushes 

 have started growing to bend them down and cover up entirely the 

 old limbs, and the buds will break through and will make a mass of 

 rooted plants before fall. 



