86 PLANT PROPAGATION 



Hard-wood Cuttings. — Hard-wood cuttings are made from 

 mature and dormant wood of the woody plants. Hard- 

 wood cuttings are taken either in the late fall or in the 

 winter. They differ from the soft-wood cuttings in having 

 no leaves and in bearing buds that are dormant. Hard-wood 

 cuttings should be taken from wood of the previous season's 

 growth, and they should be shoots of medium size. 



The length of a cutting depends somewhat upon the plant 

 as well as upon the length of the internodes. Usually it is 

 made 6 inches in length, but in some plants and under some 

 conditions the length may vary from 8 to 10 inches. In 

 the grape, where a three-eye cutting is used, it must of 

 necessity be from 7 to 10 inches in length. On the currant, 

 the gooseberry and many of the ornamentals, where the 

 internodes are short, it is advisable to make the cutting 6 

 inches in length. In taking the cutting it is considered wise 

 to make the cut on the proximal end just below a bud 

 because it is thought roots will start more readily when cut 

 at that point. 



Storing and Handling of Hard-wood Cuttings. — Cuttings 

 made from dormant wood must be gathered in the fall and 

 the winter and stored until spring to produce the best results. 

 They are usually packed in damp sand and stored in a cellar that 

 is cool and moist. Sufficient warmth should be present in 

 order to permit the callousing of the ends and to encourage root 

 development but not heat enough so that the buds will 

 swell. Damp sawdust, clean sand or a loose loam furnish 

 the best mediums in which to store the cuttings. They can 

 also be buried in the open ground below the frost line. 



Hard-wood cuttings treated in this manner will develop 

 root protuberances before any top growth takes place. 

 When the cuttings are taken directly from the parent plant 

 and placed under conditions that favor leaf growth before 

 callusing has taken place the resulting plants will be 

 inferior to those which have been allowed to callus over. 

 Just why this should occur is not definitely known, except 

 that the callusing of the tissue in some way stimulates the 

 formation of a good root system, which in turn gives a healthy 

 and robust plant. 



