438 



AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 

 Fig. 303. 



a. Common cutting of small woody growth. 



6. A slip cutting of the same, with the butt untrimmed. 



c. A slip cutting trimmed for planting. 



d. A common herbaceous cutting. 



e. A cutting of Carnation or Picotee. 



/. A cutting of the smaller, or garden Pink, made with the knife. 

 g. A pink " piping," made by drawing out, without using the knife. 

 h. The pipe or tube from which the piping has been drawn. 



The Carnation and Picotee are commonly layered, but cut- 

 tings may be made, as Fig. e, and are to be preferred. The 

 smaller, or garden Pink, is usually raised from cuttings, as Fig. 

 /, but these are also often made without the knife by simply 

 pulling out a sufficient length of the heart growth, while the 

 lower or stem end of the shoot is held firmly between the thumb 

 and finger. If dexterously done, the cutting will separate pre- 

 cisely at the joint, and is at once ready for planting, Fig. g. 

 This is called " a piping," because, when drawn out, it leaves a 

 pipe or tube formed by the bases of the two next lower leaves 

 which enfolded it, Fig. h. Branch cuttings of all kinds may 

 usually be planted at a depth equal to one half of their length, 

 but cuttings of Carnations, Pinks, and a few other varieties of 

 peculiar growth, are planted so as to bring the bases of their 

 untrimmed leaves just into the surface of the earth. A very 

 little experience and observation will enable the cultivator to 

 judge at once of the proper depths from the size of the cutting 

 and the character of the particular variety. Cuttings that are 

 planted in a sloping position are thought to root more readily 



