328 ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN BOTANY 



being just above the upper bud. In the spring, the cuttings 

 are planted " right end up," in well-tilled soil, so that the 

 upper bud is at the surface. The cuttings are not planted by 

 being thrust into the soil, but are placed about a foot apart in 

 trenches and covered up (Fig. 11). If the cuttings and the 

 soil and the planting are all what they should be, many of the 

 cuttings will establish plants during a single season, which 

 are then ready for transplanting into a permanent position. 



These details will vary with different plants, largely depen- 

 dent on the use of young wood or mature wood for cuttings, 

 or on the use of short or long cuttings. In the grape cuttings 



just described, 

 the cuttings 

 are long and 

 contain ma- 

 ture wood. 



The best il- 

 lustration of 

 the use of cut- 



FIG. 12. Potato tuber, showing the "eyes" which indicate ^jftfrg Q 

 nodes, and also some young branches ("sprouts") started. 



ground stems 



is in the propagation of potatoes. The potato tubers are 

 thickened underground stems, and their nodes have all the 

 powers of those of aerial stems (Fig. 12). The position of 

 these nodes is indicated by the so-called " eyes," which are 

 young buds in the axils of more or less evident scales (which 

 in this case might be called " eyebrows ") . The cultivation of 

 potatoes will be described later, but in this connection the 

 preparation and planting of the cuttings will be indicated. 

 The tuber is cut in such a way that each piece to be used for 

 planting contains one or two eyes; and at the same time 

 each piece must contain as much food material as possible. 

 The bud (eye) is a young shoot, capable of developing a stem 

 with its leaves, and the node in the proper soil conditions can 

 also put out roots. This means the organization of a new 



