SECT. VII. SUCKERS. 



means of slips ; in which case the root is generated 

 nearly as in the former, the soil stimulating the pro- 

 trusion of buds which are converted into roots, 

 But in many plants, such as the Currant and Natural. 

 Laurel, this is altogether a natural process effected 

 by the spontaneous bending down of a branch to 

 the surface of the soil. 



SECTION VII. 

 Suckers. 



MANY plants protrude annually from the collar 

 a number of young shoots, encircling the principal 

 stem and depriving it of a portion of its nourish- 

 ment, as in the case of most fruit-trees. Others Exempli- 

 send out a horizontal root, from which there at last|^'" n ^ h 

 issues a bud that ascends above the soil and is con- s y rin s a * 

 verted into a little stem, as in the case of the Elm- 

 tree and Syringa. Others send out a horizontal 

 shoot from the collar or its neighbourhood; or a 

 shoot that ultimately bends down by its own weight 

 till it reaches the ground, in which it strikes root 

 and again sends up a stem, as in the abovemen- 

 tioned case of the Currant Bush and Laurel. The 

 two former are called suckers or offsets, though the 

 term offset should perhaps be restricted to the 

 young bulbs that issue and detach themselves an- 

 nually from bulbous roots. The latter is not desig- 

 nated by any particular name, but may be regarded 



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