138 THE FIG: ITS HISTORY, CULTURE, AND CURING. 
It is hardly necessary to add that the proper place for making cut- 
tings is in a large shed, or under the shade of a large tree. 
The following are the main points in making cuttings: 
(1) The operation must be performed in the shade. 
(2) The shears should be very sharp. 
(3) Large and small cuttings are best made at the same time. 
(4) Grade the cuttings as soon as made. 
(5) The cut to be made in the joints where the wood is solid. 
(6) The larger cuttings to be placed in boxes, with the butt ends all 
in one direction. 
CARE OF CUTTINGS AFTER THEY ARE MADE. 
Many failures arise from want of care of the cuttings after they 
have been made. A cutting should be fresh, or at least full of sap, 
before planting in nursery or orchard. The best method is to plant 
the cuttings as soon as they are made. If this be done they should 
not be disturbed from the boxes in which they were placed after being 
cut; and to transfer the boxes at once to the field will save work, and 
the chance of mixing the cuttings will be less. If planting can not 
be done immediately, the cuttings should be heeled in. This may be 
done by digging a trench as deep as half the size of the cutting, the 
soil being thrown up always on the same side, and toward the south 
if possible, thus forming an embankment, making the trench twice as 
deep. The cuttings are then put in slanting, with their tops leaning 
against the loose soil. The soil to be used for covering the trench is 
dug out of the opposite side and from the next trench to be dug. 
First the lower part of the trench is filled in, then loose soil is heaped 
in around the cuttings to within a few inches of their tops. Another 
layer of cuttings is then put on against this soil, the original trench 
all the time being made wider. The cuttings should not protrude 
more than a few inches. Thus heeled in, the cuttings should be kept 
slightly moist, but not wet. If too moist the cuttings will make root 
quickly. This is to be avoided as much as possible, as these roots 
will all die in replanting and rob the cutting of considerable sap and 
life force. 
If there is danger of the cuttings rooting too soon they may be 
taken out and dried in the air for a few hours or longer, according to 
the weather, and then afterwards be put back into the trench. Sueh 
drying does not injure the cuttings, provided proper care is taken in 
not drying too much. In this manner cuttings may be kept in good 
condition for several months and until very late in the spring. The 
soil in the trench should be kept firm in order that the drying winds 
may not enter or that mold may not form. After every watering the 
holes formed by the settling of the soil should be filled in and trodden 
down. If the cuttings have from any cause become dry they should 
at once be revived. This can be done by placing them in a ditch or 
