182 PEINCIPLES OF GARDENING. [CH. V. 



Three or four leaves, or even two, if the cutting be 

 very short, are abundant. They elaborate the sap 

 quite as fast as required, and are not liable to exhaust 

 the cutting by super-exhalation of moisture. 



Cuttings taken from the upper branches of ajjlant 

 flower and bear fmit the earliest, but those taken 

 from near the soil are said to root most freely. 



Cuttings which reluctantly emit roots, may be 

 aided by ringing. The ring should be cut romid the 

 branch a few weeks before the cutting has to be 

 removed; the bark should be completely removed 

 do^vn to the wood; and the section dividing the 

 cutting from the parent be made between the ring 

 and the parent stem, so soon as a callus appears 

 round the upper edge of the ring. 



The soil is an important consideration. The 

 cuttings of orange-trees and others which strike 

 ^vith difficulty if inserted in the middle of the earth 

 of a pot, do so readily if placed in contact ^^ith its 

 side. The same effect is produced by the end of 

 the cutting touching an under-drainage of gravel or 

 broken pots. Why is this ? and my obsen-ations 

 justify me in concluding that it is because in these 

 situations — the side and the open-drainage of the 

 pot — the atmospheric air gains a salutaiy access. 

 A light porous soil, or even sand, which admits 

 air the most readilv, is the best for cuttings ; and so 



