926 



CUTTINGS 



CUTTINGS 



1161. Permanent propagating-frames in a greenhouse. 



propagation by seeds. It is a cheap and convenient 

 way of securing new plants. All plants cannot be profi- 

 tably increased by these means. Why they differ we 

 do not know; the gardener learns by experience what 

 species yield a good percentage of healthy plants, and 

 acts accordingly. 



The following table will show the different ways in 

 which cuttings are made: 



f soft 



Cuttings < 



Stem. 



_ e.g., verbena, 



r Growing J 



wood. j Hardened 



\_ e.g., tea roses. 



Long, in open air 

 e.g., grape. 



Ripened 

 wood. 



Short, under glass 

 e.g., Japanese cedar. 



Roots or 

 rootstocks. ' 



: Short, under glass 

 e. g., Anemone japonica. 

 Long, in open air 

 e. g., blackberry. 



Entire 



e. g., echeveria. 



Leaf -I Divided 



e. g., Begonia, Rex. 



Bulb-scales 

 e. g., lilies. 



There is less variation in cutting-progeny than in 

 seed-progeny, and therefore cuttings (or layers or cions) 

 are used when it is desired to keep a stock particu- 

 larly true to name. They are used largely for the 

 multiplication of forms that are specially 

 variable from seed (which have not become 

 fixed by seed selection), and of mutations as 

 between the different branches or parts of a plant 

 (bud sports). Thus, the varieties of roses, chry- 

 santhemums, carnations, most begonias, and cur- 

 rants and grapes can be grown from cuttings. 

 Cuttings are also employed when seeds are dif- 

 ficult to secure, as in many greenhouse plants, 

 or when propagation by seeds is difficult and 

 cuttings are easy, as in poplars and willows. 



The cutting-bed. 



Under glass cuttings are commonly planted in 

 pure sand, such as a mason would use for mak- 

 ing mortar. Sphagnum moss is sometimes used 

 and various substances like brick-dust, coal-ashes 

 jadoo fiber have been tried, but without much 

 success. Sand and well-rotted leaf-mold mixed 

 half and half, is occasionally employed for gera- 

 niums, for lily scales, root-cuttings and some 

 succulent plants. 



Sphagnum is useful in rooting Ficus elastica, 

 the base of the cutting being wrapped in a ball 

 of moss and plunged in a bed of moss. English 



ivy, oleander and other plants can be struck 

 in water, but this method is cumbersome. 

 Peter Henderson's saucer method is valuable 

 in hot weather: the cuttings are planted in 

 sand, kept saturated and fully exposed to sun. 



In the open air, a well-protected place, a part 

 of the frame-yard, for example, should be chosen 

 for a cutting-bed. The aspect should be south- 

 erly and the soil must be well drained. The soil 

 should also be trenched to the depth of 2^ to 

 3 feet, all poor material removed and additions 

 of humus, in the form of peat, leaf-mold or 

 well-rotted barnyard manure incorporated. 

 Provision for watering should be easy. If the 

 soil is a heavy clay, add sand. 



Structures in which cuttings are started. 

 Figs. 1160-1165. 



Large establishments have one or more houses set 

 apart for this and similar purposes called "propaga- 

 ting-houses." In smaller places a propagating-bed or 

 -bench can be made at the warmest end of the warmest 

 house. It should be placed over the pipes where they 

 leave the boiler, and, in order to secure bottom heat 

 when needed, the space between the bench and the 

 floor should be boarded up, having a trap -door to open 

 on cold nights (Fig. 1160). Cutting-frames inside a 

 greenhouse are also shown in Fig. 1161. Side partitions 

 should also be provided to box in all the heat from the 

 pipes under that part of the bench. Good dimensions 

 for such a bed are, width 3 feet, length 6 feet or any 

 multiple of six thus making it simple to use a hotbed 

 sash when confined air is wanted. The depth of the 

 frame should be from 6 to 10 inches in front and about 

 the same behind. The bottom of the bed may be 

 either wood, slate or metal and should be well drained : 

 place a layer of potsherds first, then moss, and from 2 to 

 3 inches of sand on top. The sand should be clean, 

 sharp and well compacted : before planting it should be 

 watered if at all dry. It is sometimes advisable to have 

 the bed filled with moss (sphagnum), into which pots or 

 boxes containing cuttings are plunged : the moss should 

 be moist, neither too wet nor dry, and well packed. 



In many cases, when large quantities of one sort of 

 easily struck cuttings are to be planted, the ordinary 

 greenhouse bench covered with sand is sufficient 

 (Fig. 1162). 



Hand-lights and bell-glasses are sometimes used under 

 glass for small quantities of cuttings instead of frames. 

 They may be of every convenient size up to 12 or 15 

 inches in diameter. The important point is that 



1162. Cutting-bench shaded with lath. 



