928 



CUTTINGS 



CUTTINGS 



confined air are advisable for cuttings of growing wood. 

 The older gardeners employed both, but now neither 

 is commonly used, except for tropical plants, like croton, 

 or when a constant succession of crops of cuttings is 

 required. There is no doubt that with this aid cuttings 

 will root more quickly, but more skill and care are 

 required, neglect bringing on fungous disease, which 

 results in unhealthy plants 

 ^ or total loss. If bottom 



f^ j!\ 



SasS 



1168. A geranium cutting. 



heat is used, the average temperature of the bed should 

 be 10 or so above that of the air, but less will suffice. 

 Indeed, in beds made as described above, in good 

 weather the sand is enough warmer than the green- 

 house atmosphere to answer every purpose. If a con- 

 fined air is wanted, ventilation and shading must be 

 carefully looked after, and precautions taken against 

 the accumulation of condensed moisture within the 

 bell-glass or frame. 



Although it is tender plants, in the main, that are 

 propagated by cuttings of growing wood, the above 

 methods can be practised advantageously with some 

 hardy plants. The wood, which is invariably more 

 successful if hardened, is obtained either from plants 

 forced for this purpose, e. g., spirea, Deutzia gracilis, 

 or it is gathered in June and July out-of-doors, e.g., 

 lilac, hydrangea. They should be potted off in 2- or 

 3-inch pots, in a rather sandy soil, when the roots are 

 from % to l /i inch long. It is sometimes good economy 

 to box them, i.e., plant them a few inches apart in flats, 

 when not immediately required. 



Some hardy perennials, like Phlox subidata, Campanula 

 carpatica, Gentiana acaulis and the hardy candytuft, 

 can also be easily increased in this 

 way. Make the cuttings 2 to 3 

 inches long and plant in flats or pots 



in sand or a sandy soil in October, 



November or December, before any 

 hard frost. Keep in a coolhouse and 

 pot off when rooted. They make nice 

 plants for planting out the following 

 spring. Plants of this same nature 

 can also be propagated in the open air 

 in autumn. Make the cutting longer, 

 6 inches when possible, and do the 

 work earlier, in September or in 

 August in some cases. 



1170. Hardened-wood 1171. A carnation 1172. Hardwood 

 cutting of dahlia. cutting. cutting of currant. 



Cutting of ripened or dormant wood. Figs. 1172-1174. 



Many plants grow readily from twigs of the year's 

 growth taken in fall or winter or very early spring. 

 The "soft-wooded" plants usually propagate most 

 readily by this means. These cuttings of mature wood 

 may be either long or short. 



Long cuttings of ripened wood in open air. This 

 method is used to propagate many hardy trees and 

 shrubs, e.g., willows, currants, grapes, forsythia. 

 Wood of the current year's growth is gathered in 

 autumn or early winter, before severe frost, and either 

 stored in a cool cellar, covering with moss or fresh 

 earth to prevent drying, or immediately made into 

 cuttings. These cuttings are usually 6 inches or more 

 long and should contain at least two buds. It is not 

 necessary to cut to a bud at the base, but the upper cut 

 should be just above one. Figs. 1172, 1173. They should 

 be tied in bundles with tarred rope, taking care to have 

 them lie "heads and tails" to facilitate planting, and 

 with the butts on the same level, to promote callusing. 

 They should then be buried in well-drained soil, with 

 the butts down and protected against frost. In early 

 spring they should be firmly planted in V-shaped 

 trenches in well prepared soil: set an inch or so apart, 

 with the rows 1 or 1% ft. apart. The upper bud should 

 be just at the surface; to prevent suckers the lower buds 

 may be removed. In autumn they should be dug, 

 graded and heeled-in for winter. Some varieties will 

 require a second or third year's growth in the nursery; 

 others are ready for 

 permanent plant- 

 ing, as willows and 

 poplars, which often 

 grow 6 feet the first 

 year. This is one 

 of the very cheapest 

 ways of propaga- 

 ting, and will pay 

 when only 25 per 

 cent root. This 

 method is generally 

 used with decidu- 

 ous-leaved plants, 

 but some conifers, 

 e.g., Siberian arbor- 

 vitae, will strike. Remove enough twigs to get a clean 

 stem for planting, and allow 2 or 3 inches of top above 

 ground. 



The excrescences, knots or knaurs, which are 

 found on the trunks and the main limbs of 

 olive trees, are sometimes used as cuttings for 

 propagation. 



Short cuttings of ripened wood. (Fig. 1174.) Cuttings of 

 this class are used under glass with tender or half-hardy 

 species, and sometimes with new introductions, in cases 

 in which the grower is short of stock, and when the plant 

 is delicate and small. The W9od should be gathered 

 before severe frost and the cuttings made and planted 

 directly in October and November. Make them from 

 2 to 4 inches long (sometimes a single eye only is used), 

 and plant with a dibble, in pure sand in pots, pans or 

 flats (boxes about 16 inches square and 3 inches deep). 

 If a layer of potting soil is placed under the sand, the 

 young plants have something to feed on and do not 

 need to be potted so soon after rooting; if this is done, 

 drainage should be given. It is important to keep them 

 cool until a callus is formed or roots produced. If the 

 buds start into growth before this, the cuttings become 

 exhausted and are likely to die. After rooting, the 

 time required varies from one to six months they may 

 either be potted or the strong-growing sorts be planted 

 out in well-prepared beds in May or June, where they 

 are likely to make a satisfactory growth. The weaker 

 kinds may remain a year in pots or flats, be wintered 

 in a pit, and planted out the next spring. Some green- * 

 house plants, e.g., camellia, laurestinus, tender grapes, 



1173. Cuttings of grape, to show 

 how planted. 



