226 THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS BY MEANS OF STEMS 



stems in soil, sand, or water where they develop roots and become 

 as self-supporting as the parent plant. Such detached portions 

 are known as cuttings and consist of a small portion of a stem, as 

 Figure 207 illustrates, or only of a leaf, as in the propagation of 



FIG. 207. Geranium cut- 

 FIG. 206. The Irish Potato, showing new ' ting, showing the roots devel- 

 plants developing from the eyes. oping at the cut end. 



Begonias and a few other plants having fleshy leaves as shown in 

 Figure 208. Among cultivated herbaceous plants which are 

 propagated by cuttings, the Irish Potato, Geranium, Carnation, 

 and Coleus are familiar examples. In Southern countries the use 

 of cuttings is well illustrated in the propagation of Sugar Cane, 

 as shown in Figures 209 and 210. Other plants of the Grass fam- 

 ily, as Johnson Grass and Bermuda Grass, are sometimes propa- 

 gated by cutting the underground stems into short pieces, which 

 are used in setting fields to grass. Unintentionally, but often to 



