36 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



It is easy to see that the requirements of a part of the 

 plant thus cut off from any connection with the roots are 

 different from those of the normal growing plant. The lat- 

 ter thrives in direct sunshine and in the open air, the water 

 which passes freely from the leaves being replaced through 

 the roots; but in the cutting no such replacing of water can 

 take place unless the cut end is in water or some material 



saturated with water. The cut- 

 ting is a plant without a root, and 

 its first business is to develop a 

 root system. The cuttings of 

 many plants will do this quickly 

 and surely if we give them the 

 right conditions. 



The simplest way of inducing 

 a cutting to send out roots is to 



Rooted Cutting of Geranium. P 1 ^ it in Water. If yOU will put 



the end of a willow twig in a 

 bottle of water for a few weeks you will see the roots come 

 out in great numbers. The same process will take place, 

 but perhaps more slowly, if you immerse a slip of a Rose 

 Geranium or an end of a gloxinia leaf in water; and very 

 good plants of these flowers may be started in this way. 



A method that is not quite so simple, but is in general more 

 satisfactory, is to start the cutting in moist sand or sandy 

 soil. For this purpose a special little garden is desirable. A 

 window-garden box or a shallow box of almost any sort may 

 be filled with two or three inches of clean sand and used as a 

 propagating box. This will probably be the most satisfac- 

 tory method. When the cuttings are first planted, have a 

 sheet of paper laid over the box to exclude direct sunshine, 



