CUTTINGS 



CUTTINGS 



929 



1174. Short cuttings 

 of ripened wood. 



are propagated in this way with cuttings of fully 

 ripened wood, and others, as cactus and dracena, 

 with wood which is much older. They should be given 

 the care described under the head of "Cuttings of grow- 

 ing wood" (p. 927), but they must not be forced too 

 hard at first. The temperature should be regulated by 

 the nature of the plant. The safest 

 rule to follow is to give a few degrees 

 more heat for propagating than the 

 plant received when the cutting 

 was removed. 



Hardy shrubs can also be propa- 

 gated by cuttings of growing wood, 

 somewhat hardened, planted in 

 coldframes in June and July. They 

 are called "cuttings of green wood," 

 and are made from 4 to 6 inches 

 long and sometimes longer. They 

 are closely planted in sand, or soil 

 one-half sand and one-half leaf- 

 mold, in rows 4 to 6 inches apart. 

 They must be carefully watered, shaded and ventilated 

 for ten days or more after planting. Much of the 

 success of this method depends upon the weather; it 

 brings in a gambling element : a few hot and dry days 

 are dangerous. A light hotbed may be used instead 

 of a coldframe but this means more care. The rooted 

 plants are left in the frame all winter, protected and 

 planted out the following spring. 



Root-cuttings. Fig. 1175. 



The cuttings of this class are made of either root or 

 rootstock and are useful in propagating some plants, 

 either in the greenhouse or in the open air. Tender 

 plants, like bouvardia, and those which are hardy but of 

 delicate growth, e.g., Anemone japonica, are handled 

 under glass ; blackberries, horse-radish, and so on out-of- 

 doors. The cuttings are made in autumn or winter, 

 the roots of hardy plants being gathered before severe 

 frost and either planted directly or kept in moss until 

 spring. This process of storing develops a callus and 

 has a tendency to produce buds. For greenhouse work, 

 the cuttings are made from 1 to 2 inches long, the larger 

 roots being selected, although the small ones will grow. 

 They are planted in pans or flats, in soil composed of 

 equal parts sand and well-rotted leaf-mold. Ordinarily 

 they are set horizontally. If planted vertically, in 

 cuttings from the true root, the end which was nearest 

 the crown should be uppermost; but if made from the 

 rootstock, that end should be uppermost which grew 

 farthest from the crown. In either case they should be 

 covered, as seeds are covered, and the whole made 

 firm. Root-cuttings of hardy plants should be kept 

 cool at first and brought into heat only when ready to 

 grow. They may be kept in a pit or cool cellar. Tender 

 plants require the same or a little higher temperature 

 than that in which they thrive. 



In sweet potato, the tuber is cut lengthwise and laid, 

 with the cut side down, on moist sand or moss, the 

 edges being slightly covered. Buds develop on these 

 edges and are removed when of proper size and treated 

 as cuttings of growing wood, or allowed to remain until 



rooted . In dracena 

 (see Fig. 1052, page 

 842) and this applies 

 to stem- as well as 

 root -cuttings the 

 buds are not taken off 

 until rooted the orig- 

 inal cutting remains 

 in the sand and sometimes produces a second or even a 

 third crop. The tuberous rootstock of Arum macula- 

 turn, and plants of like nature, can be cut into pieces, 

 remembering that the bud-producing portion of arum is 

 the top, and each part will grow successfully. Exercise 

 care in watering and maintain a good temperature. 



1175. Root-cutting of blackberry. 



(XH) 



The rootstocks of cannas are cleaned and cut into 

 pieces 1 J^ to 2 inches long and planted in a warmhouse 

 in February (Fig. 784, p. 657). As soon as buds push 

 and roots form they are potted off and grown until the 

 season for bedding out. Dahlias are not, properly 

 speaking, propagated from rootstock, but by division; 

 the plant cannot produce adventitious buds. There 

 must always be a bit of the crown attached to the tuber. 

 The propagation of dahlias so closely resembles the 

 methods here described that it is perhaps well to 

 mention it. 



Root-cuttings for planting in the open ground are 

 made from 4 to 6 inches long, and are planted firmly in 

 V-shaped trenches or furrows in spring, being covered 

 2 inches or more deep. Roots as large as one's little 

 finger are chosen, and good results are secured with 

 plants of vigorous growth. In plants like lily-of-the- 

 valley, common lilac, calycanthus, Scotch and moss 

 roses, unless short of stock, it is 

 better to encourage the natural 

 growth of the suckers and prop- 

 agate by division, but they all can 

 be multiplied as above described. 



Variegation, curiously enough, 

 is not always reproduced by 

 means of root-cuttings. 



Leaf -cuttings. Fig. 1176. 



Many leaves are capable of 

 producing roots. Some have the 

 further power of developing buds 

 after rooting, and of these last a 

 few furnish an economical means 

 of bud-propagation, particularly 

 when the stem growth is in- 

 sufficient. In cotyledon (eche- 

 veria) the whole leaf is used, 

 the smaller ones from the flower- 

 stalk being often the best. 

 Choose those that are fully 

 matured, and dry them for a 

 few days on sand, but do not 

 let them shrivel. The treatment, otherwise, is as given 

 above for cuttings of growing wood. In gloxinia and 

 other Gesneraceae, the whole leaf (Fig. 1176), half a leaf, 

 or even a lesser portion, is used. When enough clear 

 petiole is obtainable, no further preparation is needed. 

 When a part only of the leaf is planted, some of the 

 blade must be cut away. As a rule, no bud is de- 

 veloped the first season: a tuber is formed, which will 

 grow in due time. 



The common Begonia Rex is increased by 

 leaves in various ways. The whole leaf may 

 be planted as a cutting, keeping the petiole 

 entire or cutting it off where it unites with 

 the blade; or the whole leaf may be pinned 

 or "weighted to the surface of moist sand 

 (Figs. 501-503, p. 470), and, if the principal 

 veins are severed at intervals of an inch, a 

 plantlet will appear at every cut. The best 

 way is to divide the leaf into somewhat 

 triangular pieces, each part having a strong 

 vein near the center. Plant in sand, in 

 good temperature, and treat precisely as if 

 they were cuttings of growing wood. Roots 

 and buds will soon grow, and a good plant 

 will result within a reasonable time. Pot off when roots 

 are % inch long. Certain other begonias may be 

 similarly multiplied. 



Other cuttings. 



The thickened scales of bulbs, like lilies, can be used 

 for propagation. Remove the scales intact and plant 

 upright, like seeds, in soil made of equal parts of sand 

 and rotted leaf-mold (Fig. 1177). September and 

 October are the usual months for this work. If they 



1176. Leaf-cutting of 

 gloxinia. 



1177. 



Lily scale 

 producing 

 bulblets. 



