252 ON PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



success is, that the heel being formed by the first, growth of the lateral, con- 

 sists of wood more or less ripened ; and consequently, when it is planted, 

 it is less likely to be damped off by the moisture of the soil than younger 

 wood. When the heel is too ripe, the cutting will not strike. 



576. Shoots which have formed blossom buds ought in general to be avoided; 

 because it frequently happens that all the assimilated nourishing matter has 

 been laid up for their future support, and no root formation can take 

 place. Many plants that have flower- buds at the points are, therefore, very 

 difficult to propagate by cuttings ; such as Blaina ericoides ; whereas, with 

 some others, it has very little influence, as .Erica tenella, and several species 

 of Phylica. 



577. As general rules, it may be stated that cuttings made of the ripened 

 wood of deciduous plants that have a large pith, succeed best when taken 

 off with a portion of the preceding year's wood ; such as the gooseberry, 

 currant, vine, fig, honeysuckle, elder, hydrangea, spiraea, syringa, philadel- 

 phus, &c. Cuttings of hard wooded plants difficult to strike, such as Erica, 

 Epacris, Burtonm, are best made from points of the shoots cut off where 

 the wood is beginning to ripen, as in .Erica pinguis, aristata, ferruginea, 

 Hartnelli, cerinthoides, empetrifolia, picta, /asiculata, vernix, &c. ; or 

 from lateral shoots made from wood of the same year, as in almost all the 

 more easily growing species of .Erica, left ; such are .Erica margari- 

 tacea, rubens, ramentacea, mucosa, tenera, tenella, scabriuscula, Persoluta, 

 pellucida, and all those of a similar growth. Cuttings of soft wooded 

 plants, or of plants with woolly bark, such as Manulea, Mutisia, Gnaphalium, 

 &c., are best made of lateral shoots beginning to ripen at the lower 

 end, and drawn out from the main shoot with a heel. Cuttings of .soft 

 stemmed plants which are easily rooted, such as Dahlm, Petunia, Geranium, 

 &c. may be cut off from any growing shoots where the tissue is somewhat 

 firm, but moderately strong shoots will be found the best. 



578. The time of taking off cuttings depends much on the nature of the 

 plant to be propagated. In the case of hardy deciduous trees and shrubs, 

 such as the gooseberry, poplar, c., any period between the falling of the 

 leaf in autumn, and the swelling of the buds in spring, will answer ; but 

 the autumn is preferable, because more time is given for the cutting to 

 accommodate itself to its new situation and circumstances before the growing 

 season. This it does by cicatrising the wounded section, and thus prevent- 

 ing it from absorbing moisture in excess when the growing season com- 

 mences. If the cutting be not taken off till spring, the buds on it will have 

 been supplied with moisture from the roots, and the sudden cutting off of 

 this supply will materially check the growth of the buds. Cutting of 

 hardy evergreens not difficult to strike, such as those of the box, laurel, 

 &c., may be taken off in the ripened wood in the autumn rather than in 

 spring, for the same reason as given in the case of deciduous cuttings of 

 ripened wood. Cuttings of house plants, whether deciduous or evergreen, 

 such as Fuchsia, Aloysia, Camellia, &c., may be taken off at whatever 

 season the wood ripens. Cuttings which are taken off in a growing state, 

 or when the plants have nearly completed their growth, such as those of 

 heaths, diosmas, epacrises, &c., and indeed the greater number of house 

 shrubs, must necessarily be taken off when the plants are in a growing state, 

 which is generally in spring or in the beginning of summer, or if not in a 

 growing state naturally at that season, they can be rendered so by a slight 



