CHAPTER XIII 



PROPAGATION 



Natural methods. The one means by which all plants higher 

 in the scale of life than the ferns are multiplied is by seeds. 

 Many species, in addition to' 

 this, have devised various 

 ways of multiplying asex- 

 ually or vegetatively by 

 means of special parts of 

 the plant which take root 

 and soon become separate 

 individuals. This latter 

 method is often more cer, 

 tain than reproduction by 

 seeds, since the new plant 

 may remain attached to 

 the old one until estab- 

 lished ; and some species, 

 such as the potato and 

 horse-radish of our gar- 

 dens, and the sugar cane 

 and sweet potato, have 

 almost abandoned seeds in 

 favor of it. In most cases, 

 however, seed production 

 and vegetative multipli- 

 cation proceed side by 



side, one being used for multiplying the plant in a particular 

 station and the other for spreading it into other regions. 



181 



FIG. 130. A lilac shrub that has pro- 

 duced numerous suckers 



