40 



PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



Fig. 21. — Mound-layering. The 

 soil is mounded among the shoots, 

 and new roots will be formed. 



fall or spring the plants may be dug; the branches with their 

 new roots will form new plants; then they are cut away 

 from the parent plant. 



Division of Plants. — Some plants naturally form roots 

 from the lowest parts or send up new shoots near the parent 



stalks. After the plant is dug it 

 becomes an easy matter to pull 

 or cut the parent plant into a 

 number of smaller plants. This 

 method of propagation is used 

 in multiplying purple lilac, rhu- 

 barb, asparagus, and many 

 shrubs and herbs. . 



Cuttings. — There are a few 

 fruit plants and many others 

 that can be propagated by cuttings. Currants, gooseberries, 

 and several kinds of grapes may be multiplied by cuttings 

 of the ripe wood. Blackberries are propagated by root- 

 cuttings, — pieces of the roots 

 dropped in a furrow and en- 

 tirely covered. Many kinds 

 of houseplants will grow from 

 slips or cuttings of green 

 wood ; these are sometimes 

 called soft-wood cuttings. 



Cuttings of ripe wood, six 

 inches or more in length, 

 should be taken in the fall 

 after the leaves have dropped. 

 They are cat from the new- 

 est growth, and the strongest 

 shoots are selected (Fig. 22). 

 When tied into bundles they should be properly labelled and 

 stored in damp sawdust in a cold cellar. In late spring 

 they are set in deep furrows in rich garden soil with one 



Fig. 22. — ^Four forms of grape-vine 

 cuttings. A, single eye or single bud; 

 B, two buds; C, heel cutting; D, mallet 

 cutting. 



