CUTTA G E. 



57 



from the mature wood, as they "strike" more quickly, they can 

 be handled under glass in the winter, and more species can be 

 propagated by them than by hard-wood cuttings. "Slips" are 

 green-wooded cuttings, but the term is often restricted to desig- 

 nate those which are made by pulling or "slipping" off a small 

 side-shoot. All soft-wooded plants and many ornamental shrubs 

 are increased by green cuttings. There are two general classes of 

 green-wood cuttings : those made from the soft and still growing 

 wood, and those made from the nearly ripened green-wood, as in 

 Azalea Indica, oleander, ficus, etc, House plants, as geraniums, 

 coleuses, carnations, fuchsias, and the like, are grown from the 

 soft young wood, and many harder-wooded plants are grown in 

 the same way. Sometimes truly hard wood is used, as in 

 camellia. 



In making cuttings from soft and growing shoots, the first 

 thing to learn is the proper texture or age of shoot. A very soft 

 and flabby cutting does not grow readily, or if it does it is par- 

 ticularly liable to damp off, and it usually makes a weak plant. 



Too old wood is slow to root, 

 makes a poor plant and is han- 

 dled with difficulty in many 

 species. The ordinary test for 

 beginners is the manner in 

 which the shoot breaks. If, 

 upon being bent, the shoot 

 snaps off squarely so as to 

 hang together with only a bit 

 of bark, as in the upper break 

 in Fig. 51, it is in the proper 

 condition for cuttings ; but if 

 it bends or simply crushes, as 

 in the lower portion of the 

 figure, it is either too old or 

 Fig. 51. Tough and brittle wood. too young f or goo d results. 



The tips of the shoots of soft-wooded plants are usually em- 

 ployed, and all or a portion of the leaves are allowed to remain. 



N. B. 5 



