THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



Blackberry roots may be dug up in the fall, cut into three- 

 inch pieces, and stored like grape cuttings. In the spring these 

 root cuttings may be planted in open furrows. 



Plants with fleshy leaves like the rex 

 begonia (Fig. 22) are propagated from leaf 

 cuttings. The leafstalk is buried, and 

 the leaf is laid flat upon the sand. The 

 leaf should be wounded by cutting the 

 veins, or ribs, and should be weighted 

 down with pebbles or pinned to the sand. 

 When the new plants are rooted, they 

 should be treated like geranium cuttings. 

 Cuttings are made from tubers, such as 

 those of Irish potatoes, by cutting them 

 into pieces so that each piece contains one 

 or two buds, or "eyes." Sprouts arise from 

 the buds, and these quickly form roots and 

 later special shoots which enlarge into po- 

 tatoes. The fleshy roots of sweet potatoes 

 are planted whole or split in halves. By 

 means of adventitious growth, sprouts arise 

 from toward the stem end and roots from 

 the other end. The sprouts form roots of 

 their own when they are "pulled" off and 

 set in the garden or field. 



47. Grafting. If a hundred apple seeds 

 of some standard variety were planted, it 

 is highly probable that none of the seed- 

 ling trees would produce fruit that would 

 be like the parent in color, quality, or the 

 season of ripening. The flowers of fruit 

 trees have been cross-pollinated from time immemorial, and the 

 seed possesses characters from a long line of ancestors ; hence 

 trees which grow from seeds rarely show the desired quality of 

 the immediate parents. Fruit trees are commonly propagated 

 by grafting, but they may also be propagated by budding. 



FIG. 24. Piece-root 

 grafting 



a, scion ; l>, rootstock ; c, 



scion and rootstock joined 



and wrapped with waxed 



cord for protection 



