SELECT LISTS OF PLANTS. 



305 



gators cut off a slice of the wood on the lower side, as shown in 

 figure 102, thereby exposing more of the alburnum than when merely 

 severed at the ends. But the shape of the cutting may be varied to suit 

 the fancy of the propagator, so long as a sufficient amount of wood 

 but not too much is left attached to the bud. These single bud or 

 short cuttings are usually employed for propagating scarce varieties, 

 and under glass during the winter months. The cuttings are planted hi 

 shallow boxes or frames filled with pure sand, and then placed in a 

 propagating house where they can be given gentle bottom heat. These 

 cuttings may be laid flat or thrust into the sand at a slight angle, but 

 the bud ought not to be covered much more than a half inch when in 

 position. Water must be applied liberally, and the temperature of the 

 cutting bed kept at about sixty or seventy degrees until the cuttings are 

 well furnished with roots, and the new growth from the bud is from two 

 to three inches in height, then remove the cuttings from the sand and 

 pot off singly in two or three inch pots. After potting, the plants may 

 be returned to the frames, or placed in others where the air will be 

 somewhat confined and moist for a few days, or until the plants have 

 become established in their new position. Single-eye cuttings may be 

 forced early in winter, but the most usual practice is to delay the opera- 

 tion until about the first of February in this climate. The wood, how- 

 ever, to be used for cuttings should be taken in early in the winter and 

 stored in the cellar, or where it will not become dry and shrivelled. If 

 by accident it should get very dry, the cuttings may be thrown into warm 

 water and allowed to soak a few hours before placing them in the sand. 

 Cuttings of the green or unripe wood are sometimes employed in 

 propagating rare and scarce va- 

 rieties, but unless the plants are 

 given extra care, they are seldom 

 as strong and healthy as those 

 raised from mature wood. The 

 mode of operation is usually as 

 follows : In the autumn pot the 

 vines to be propagated or plant 

 in a border within the propa- 

 gating house, making the soil so 

 rich that the vines will not suffer 

 for want of nutriment. When 

 they have made a growth of a 

 foot or more, some of the shoots 

 may be removed for cuttings, but 

 do not cut back all the young 

 growth at one time, as this would 103 ^cuTTi^ OF GREEN WOOD. 



severely check the vine, but a 



few cuttings at a time may be taken without injury. The young shoots 

 may then be divided into pieces of two buds each, the lower end cut off 

 square across close to the base of a bud, and the upper leaf left entire, 

 as shown in figure 108. The cuttings, when prepared, are planted in 



