CLASSES OF CUTTINGS 



129 



with two or three inches of fine, damp sphagnum moss evenly dis- 

 tributed. A second layer of cuttings is placed on the moss with 

 the upper surfaces of the leaves facing upward and covered with 

 a second pane of glass. The two panes are pressed firmly and 

 made into a package by tying. By keeping the moss moist and 

 giving plenty of light, the. cuttings carry well, provided the ma- 

 terial is healthy. When the journey is long the cuttings are often 

 rooted on arrival. With the moss only slightly dampened, cions 

 and bud-sticks of rare plants have kept well long under the same 

 treatment. 



190. Sugar cane cuttings have been shipped long distances when 

 treated with bordeaux and then packed in damp charcoal. 



191. Leaf cuttings. Leaves of cer- 

 tain plants may be made to produce 

 new plants. Some of these are planted 

 whole, others cut in various ways. In 

 certain cases (rex begonia) the new 

 growth arises from adventitious buds, 

 but in others (various ferns) it conies 

 from true buds which originate in the 

 stems. True buds may form on the 

 leaves before being cut from the parent 

 plant (Bryophyllnm calycinum) or 

 afterwards (rex begonia) ; normal in 

 the former case, adventitious in the 

 latter. 



Temperature and moisture condi- 

 tions are the same for leaf cuttings as for soft wood cuttings. 

 While many plants may be made to reproduce by leaf cut- 

 tings (cabbage, lemon) few can be profitably so propagat- 

 ed. The process, in some cases, detroys variegation in the 

 progeny; e. g., while certain variegated ivy geraniums 

 may be reproduced by soft wood cuttings, they become 

 plain green when leaf cuttings are used. 



In some cases whole leaves are used as cuttings, in 

 others the leaves are cut in pieces. A whole leaf of be- 

 gonia is placed flat on the propagating bench with a short 

 piece of its petiole buried in the sand. Cuts are then 

 made across the main veins in various places and the leaf 

 either pegged down or held in position with a little 



ROOTED GLOXINIA 

 LEAF 



