PROPAGATION OF THE FRUITS 141 



joints. New canes come up from around the base of the old 

 plants of raspberries and dewberries and grow quite rapidly. 

 They soon bend over and the tips after a while touch the 

 ground. These tips often take root of their own accord, but 

 they can be helped by having a shovelful of dirt thrown on 

 them. In fall or the following spring, the new plants can be cut 

 loose from the parent stems. Strawberries send out runners, 

 which take root without any help and thus make many new 

 plants. Grapes can also be increased by layering. Vines 

 of the previous year's growth are best. They are laid down 

 in the spring and covered three or four inches deep. New 

 plants start from almost every bud. In the fall these layers 

 should be lifted and the new plants cut loose from each other. 

 A cutting is a part of the parent plant cut off and stuck in 

 the moist ground, where it takes root and produces a new 

 plant. For fruits two kinds of cuttings are used — roots and 

 stems. Cuttings are used mainly for blackberries, grapes, 

 currants, and gooseberries. The roots of blackberries are 

 used — roots a quarter-inch or more in diameter. They are 

 dug up in the autumn, cut into pieces a couple of inches long, 

 and stored in dry sand in the cellar until spring. When 

 the ground is warm these cuttings are planted two or three 

 inches deep in good soil. They soon begin to grow and make 

 good plants. For grapes, currants, and gooseberries the new 

 growth of stem is cut in the autumn and stored in dry sand 

 the same as blackberry roots, or they may be planted at once 

 in the fall. When stored in sand the cut end callouses, or 

 heals, over, and this is probably better than to plant the 

 fresh cutting. Early in spring the cuttings are stuck or 

 planted in the ground. They are usually eight or ten inches 

 long, but may be shorter. Every cutting must have at 



