Methods of Propagation 



75 



is sometimes used. This contrivance takes its name from the fiddling 

 action of the operator when distributing the seeds. It consists of a light 

 canvas-covered box frame, which is suspended by a strap from the right 

 shoulder, and is carried under the left arm. At the base of the box is 

 a neck with a controlling slide through which the seed passes, its flow 

 being made continuous by a jigger action from an eccentric from a spindle 

 which carries at its bottom a distributing disk. This disk, which has four 

 radiating ribs, is actuated by means of a thong which forms the string 

 of the bow, and which is passed once round the spindle. When recipro- 

 cated, as in fiddling, the bow causes the disk to revolve rapidly in alternate 

 directions, thus giving the seeds 

 a throw of 15 to 30 ft. Where 

 Radishes are grown extensively 

 under glass the sowing fiddle is 

 often used for sowing the seeds. 

 Generally speaking, however, it :'v-: 

 is more of a farmer's than a s. 

 gardener's implement. v| 



Cutting's. A very large &* 

 number of plants may be raised '. : ;:: 

 by means of cuttings of the stems '!; : ; : .'; 

 or shoots. Soft-wooded or her- ;/.'; 

 baceous cuttings having leaves "X 

 are used in many cases, the shoots '///. 

 being in a half-ripened condition, - : - : 

 that is, neither too young and 

 sappy on the one hand nor too 

 old, dry, and woody on the other. Fig. ei. sowing Fiddle 



Such cuttings, according to the 



hardy or tender nature of the plant, are usually inserted in sandy or gritty 

 soil, and most of the leaves are stripped off to check evaporation of moisture 

 from the tissues through the stomata or breathing pores. One, two, three 

 or more leaves are retained, according to the nature of the plant, so that 

 a certain amount of assimilation may be carried on and induce a " callus " 

 to develop over the base of the cutting. Once the callus is formed from 

 the coagulated sap, roots are soon emitted, and the cutting then becomes 

 an established and independent plant. As a rule, stem cuttings are cut 

 immediately beneath a joint, because at that point the fibrovascular 

 bundles containing starchy food matters are closer together, and the 

 callus forms more quickly from the descending sap. 



While the cuttings of some plants (e.g. shrubby Calceolarias, Pent- 

 stemons, Snapdragons, Phloxes, &c.) root freely in cold frames, others 

 require warmer and more genial surroundings, and must be placed in 

 a hotbed or propagating frame with bottom heat. Indeed, even with 

 hardy plants, the application of bottom heat will often induce cuttings 

 to "strike" or root more readily than they would in cooler surroundings. 



