PROPAGATION OF HOUSE PLANTS BY CUTTINGS. 



-Important avd Proper Condition' of Stkm for 

 Cuttings. 



REENHOUSE plants are gen- 

 erally multiplied by what is 

 known as soft cuttings of the 

 stems. They are usually 

 made from terminal shoots, although if 

 cuttings lower down the stem can be 

 obtained in the proper condition, they 

 will readily root and make good plants. 

 The plants from which cuttings are 

 taken should be strong and vigorous ; if 

 stunted by insects or by improper sur- 

 roundings of heat, light, temperature or 

 food, or weakened by excessive produc- 

 tion of fiowers, the result will be quite 

 unsatisfactory, and it will be equally so 

 if soft, watery growth, produced by a 

 high temperature and excess of nitrogen- 

 ous food is used. The use of cuttings 

 from plants en- 

 feebled by dis- 

 ease will be even 

 more disastrous, 

 as the plants pro- 

 duced will not 

 only be suscep- 

 tible to the attack 

 of the same and 

 other diseases, 

 but they may 



even have the germs of 

 the disease within them 

 when severed from the 

 parent plant. 



While a soft, watery 

 growth is not desirable, 

 cuttings cannot, as a rule, 

 be induced to root readi- 

 ly after they become 

 woody, and the usual test 

 is to reject all cuttings 

 that when bent do not 

 snap off, rather than 

 crush down without 

 breaking, the latter be- 

 havior indicating that the 

 bundles (woody fibers) 

 (Fig. 1367). Cuttings 



Fig. 1:^8.— Soft Cut- 

 ting OF COLEUS. 



fibro-vascular 

 have formed 



made from stems in that condition root 

 slowly and sparingly, and the plants will 

 be weaker than when made from those 

 in the proper condition. For a few 

 plants like the rose, a firmer condition 

 of the wood is desirable. 



Soft cuttings should have a bud at the 

 top and from one to three inches of 

 stem. Unless a cutting can be made 

 three inches long and have its base in 

 proper condition, it will be better to 

 shorten it to one inch, and, if necessary, 

 the length may be even less, its stem 

 being principally of value to give a 

 secure hold in the cutting bed. Cut- 

 tings of this kind should have at least 

 one leaf, and sometimes from two to 

 four are left. Those at the lower part 

 of the stem should be removed, and the 

 others shortened in (Fig. 1368). In this, 

 way the amount of evaporation will be 

 checked and the cuttings can be placed 

 nearer together. Cuttings should be so 

 handled that they will not wilt. It is 

 well to use a sharp knife, and to cut off 

 the stem at nearly right angles. Neither 

 however, is really necessary, and in 

 241 



