216 O.V PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



nine to eighteen inches is considered a suitable length ; and the points 

 of the shoots of these and other kinds of easily-rooting plants are cut 

 off, as not being sufficiently ripened to have strong buds, or as contain- 

 ing too many small buds. In plants somewhat difficult to strike, lateral 

 shoots are chosen, and these are often drawn or "slipped" out of the 

 wood, so as to carry with them the axillary formation of the bud and 

 the vessels of the leaf. The plexus of vessels at the heel of the shoot 

 or insertion of the branch in the stem, causes a peculiar activity of life 

 there ; and both buds and roots are much more easily formed and in 

 greater quantity there than in any other part of the shoot. The in- 

 sertion of the branch resembles in this respect the collar of the stem. 

 If the heel of the gooseberry or currant- cutting is taken out completely 

 by breaking off, not cutting, it is better than taking off a piece of the 

 old wood. This is the only way in which shoots covered with a woolly 

 tissue, such as several gnaphaliums and helichrysums, can be made to 

 root. This method is also very successful with plants that are difficult 

 to root, and that have leaves surrounded with prickles, such as Mutisia 

 ilicifolia, Berkleya grandiflora, Logania floribunda, latifolia, &c. ; also 

 with those the leaves of which have stalks with very strong veins, or 

 their circumference very strongly defined, such as Banksia grandis, 

 Berkleya ciliaris, the different species of Daviesia, Chorozema ovata, &c. ; 

 or those that have winged steins, such as Acacia alata. The reason of 

 the success is, that the heel being formed by the first growth of the 

 lateral, consists of wood more or less ripened ; and consequently, when 

 it is planted, it is less likely to be damped off by the moisture of the 

 soil than younger wood. When the heel is too ripe, the cutting will 

 not strike. 



Shoots which have formed blossom buds ought in general to be 

 avoided ; because it frequently happens that all the assimilated 

 nourishing matter has been laid up for their future support, and no 

 root formation can take place. 



As general rules, it may be stated that cuttings made of the ripened 

 wood of deciduous plants that have a large pith, succeed best when 

 taken off with a portion of the preceding year's wood, such as the 

 gooseberry, currant, vine, fig, honeysuckle, elder, hydrangea, spirasa, 

 syringa, philadelphus, &c. Cuttings of hard-wooded plants, difficult 

 to strike, such as Erica, Epacris, Burtonia, are best made from points 

 of the shoots cut off where the wood is beginning to ripen, as in Erica 

 pinguis, aristata, ferruginea, Hartnelli, cerinthoides, empetrifolia, picta, 

 fasciculata, vernix, &c. ; or from lateral shoots made from wood of the 

 same year, as in almost all the more easily growing species of Erica ; 

 such are Erica uiargaritacea, rubens, ramentacea, mucosa, tenera, 

 tenella, scabriuscula, persoluta, pellucida, and all those of a similar 

 growth. Cuttings of soft-wooded plants, or of plants with woolly 

 bark, such as Manulea, Mutisia, Gnaphalium, &c., are best made of 

 lateral shoots beginning to ripen at the lower end, and drawn out from 

 the main shoot with a heel. Cuttings of soft-stemmed plants which 

 are easily rooted, such as Dahlia, Petunia, Geranium, &c., may be cut 

 off from any growing shoots where the tissue is somewhat firm, but 



