48 THE NURSERY-BOOK. 



bundles and are buried in a sandy place, with the tops down, 

 the butts being covered two or three inches with sand. They 

 may be put in this position in the fall and allowed to remain 

 until the ground begins to freeze hard, or they may be buried 

 in spring and allowed to remain until May or June and then be 

 regularly planted. In out-door cuttage, the cuttings which are 

 of medium length, from six to eight inches, derive 

 more bottom heat than the very long ones, such as 

 were formerly used for the propagation of the grape. 

 In in-door work bottom heat is obtained artificially. 

 Cutting benches should have abundant piping beneath, 

 and in the case of many tropical and sub-tropical 

 species the bottom heat may be intensified by enclos- 

 ing the benches below so that no heat can escape into 

 the house. Doors can be placed in the partition along- 

 side the walk to serve as ventilators if the heat should 

 become too intense. In all cuttings, bottom or root 

 growth should precede top growth, and this is aided by 

 bottom heat. 



As a rule, roots arise most readily from a joint, 

 and it is therefore a common practice to cut off the 

 base of the cutting just below a bud, as shown in the 

 grape cutting, Fig. 43. Sometimes the cutting is 

 severed at its point of attachment to the parent 

 branch, and a small portion, or "heel, "of that branch 

 is allowed to remain on the cutting. This heel may 

 be nothing more than the curved and hardened base 

 of the cutting at its point of attachment, as in the 

 cornus cutting, Fig. 44. Sometimes an entire section 

 of the parent branch is removed with the cutting, as in 

 the "mallet" cuttings of grapes, Fig. 45. Of course, 

 comparatively few heel or mallet cuttings can be made 

 Fig. 43 from a plant, as only one cutting is obtained from a 

 Grape cut- Dranc h ( and it is advisable, therefore, to "cut to 

 buds" rather than "cut to heels ;" yet there are many 

 plants which demand a heel, if satisfactory results are to be 

 obtained. The requirements of the different species in this 



