PLANT REPRODUCTION 167 



shaded from direct sun. This may be done by using 

 cheesecloth drop-curtains, or by placing newspapers over 

 them. The cheesecloth is preferable. 



Soil medium. The soil medium in which cuttings are 

 placed should be carefully selected. A moderately fine, 

 sharp sand is considered the best. This should be ab- 

 solutely free from decaying, organic substances. The 

 sand should be compacted firmly and the bench filled to 

 the top, so that there are no confined, atmospheric areas 

 around the cuttings. 



132. Equipment for making cuttings. A clean, sharp 

 knife ; a flat, in the bottom of which a moist newspaper 

 has been placed ; a wooden block of two-by-four inch 

 material, which has been planed on at least one surface; 

 a straight-edge, about an inch and three-quarters wide, a 

 half-inch thick, and as long as the width of the cutting- 

 bench ; a putty knife ; a watering can with fine sprinkler. 



133. Methods of making the cutting and inserting it 

 in the sand. Select strong, healthy, terminal shoots. 

 Cut them from the parent plant, having them a little 

 longer than the cutting is to be. Place in a flat on moist 

 newspaper. Remove to a shady potting-shed and prepare 

 immediately for the cutting-bench. Do not take enough 

 from the parent plants at one time to necessitate delay in 

 placing the cuttings in the sand. They should never be 

 wilted when thus inserted. Have the knife perfectly sharp. 

 A smoothly cut area heals much more quickly than does an 

 area torn with a dull knife. Make a smooth cut straight 

 across the base of cutting in an area where the tissue is of 

 proper maturity to facilitate rooting quickly (Fig. 18, 

 right) . Reduce the leaf area sufficiently to diminish rapid- 

 ity of transpiration. Drop the cuttings in a flat with moist 

 paper in the bottom. If many cuttings are to be made 



