100 



AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



Many plants grow much quicker and better from 

 cuttings or bulbs than from seeds. 



How cuttings are made. Many plants will grow if 

 you cut off a small piece of the stem 

 and put it in water (wandering Jew 

 or tradescantia, as shown in figure 

 51; willow, geranium, nasturtium). 

 Other plants must- be treated more 

 carefully. If the stem is soft and 

 green, we cut it just below a joint, 

 leaving one or two leaves on it, and 

 then bury it for half its length in 

 moist sand. As it has no root it 

 cannot take up water very fast, so 

 we must shade it when the sun 

 shines and keep it from losing water 

 too fast. For the same reason we 

 cut off the leaves except one or two. 

 If it is a woody stem, we cut it 

 after the leaves have fallen off (in 

 fall or spring) and keep the cuttings 

 in a cool, damp place until the 

 weather is warm enough for growth. 



FIG. 51. A cutting of a 



wandering jew in Then we bury them for almost their 



full length in moist sand and keep 



them in a moist place. We take care to put them right 



side up. Then as we have seen (page 83), roots come 



out at the lower end and buds grow out at the upper. 



