136 CALIFORNIA GARDEN FLOWERS 



to help those which do not root readily, it may be desirable to cover 

 them in for a time, wrong-end up. To understand this practice it 

 must be remembered that the root starts from a callus; that a callus is 

 developed from the exposed cambium; that the activity of the cam- 

 bium, in forming new cells to compose the callus, is dependent upon 

 the right degree of heat in the soil; that this heat is found, in the Cali- 

 fornia winter sunshine near the surface of the soil, while a few inches 

 below the soil may be cold and wet and right to encourage continued 

 dormancy in the cutting. To bring the lower end of the cutting into 

 a soil-warmth which will encourage callusing and root-formation, 

 therefore, the cuttings may, to advantage, be placed bottom-end up- 

 wards for temporary development, not, of course, for top-growth. 

 In a hot bed or a green house with bottom heat, this condition does 

 not prevail and cuttings are set right end up because the bottom heat 

 makes the lower layer of the soil warmer than the upper. 



This treatment of rose cuttings in a callusing bed before planting 

 in rows for rooting has been described in detail by Mr. Luther Bowers 

 of Santa Clara County, in this way: 



"I gathered the cuttings during the Christmas holidays, taking only 

 the last season's growth, and, if possible, the growth next to the top 

 end. These cuttings were made as near 6 inches long as possible. 

 The base or lower end was cut off just below a bud and as close to the 

 bud as possible without injuring it, and the top was cut off just above 

 the bud, so as to have the cutting as near 6 inches long as possible. 

 I then tied the cuttings up in bundles of twenty-five or fifty each, using 

 fine copper wire or willow something that would not rot or rust. Iron 

 or galvanized wire will not do, as it will ruin the cuttings wherever 

 it touches them. The bundles should not be too tight, but just tight 

 enough so that none of the cuttings will slip out. I put on each 

 bundle a label made of a piece of sheet zinc and the name written 

 with a common lead pencil (which will last for years under ground). 



"I dug out a place, where no water would stand after a heavy rain, 

 to a depth of eight inches and made the bottom perfectly level, and 

 I then put in a 12-inch board on each side and had >a box 12 inches deep 

 without top or bottom, ten feet long and four feet wide. In the bottom 

 of this box I put three inches of sand very fine. I then put in my 

 cuttings, standing them up in the sand so that they were at least three 

 inches from either side or end, and just three inches from the top. 

 These cuttings were all put in upside down. The bundles should not 

 touch one another. The same kind of very fine sand was then filled in 

 and around and all over the cuttings, giving about three inches of sand 

 above the ends of the cuttings. This bed of cuttings I never let get 

 dry, neither did I keep it too wet, by covering the whole with one 



