62 CUTTAGE. 



which, however, is not propagated by true root cuttings. 



Whilst root cuttings perpetuate the variety, they do not 



always transmit variegations. For example, the variegated 



64. Horse-radish root cuttings 



prickly comfrey does not always come true from root cut- 

 tings. If the top is a graft, of course the root cutting will 

 reproduce the stock, unless the given roots may have 

 started from the cion. Thus the roots of dwarf pears may 

 be either quince from the stock, or pear from the cion. 



Stem Cuttings. Cuttings of the stem divide them- 

 selves into two general classes : those known as cuttings of 

 the ripe, mature or hard wood, and cuttings of the green, 

 immature or soft wood. The two classes run into each 

 other, and no hard and fast line can be drawn between 

 them. 



Hard-wood cuttings are made at any time from late 

 summer to spring. It is advisable to make them in the 

 fall, in order to allow them to callus before the planting 

 season, and to forestall injury which might result to the 

 parent plant from a severe winter. They may be taken as 

 early as August, or as soon as the wood is mature, and 

 be stripped of leaves. Callusing can then take place in 

 time to allow of fall planting. Or, the cuttings taken in 

 early fall may be planted immediately, and be allowed to 

 callus where they stand. All fall cutting-beds should be 

 mulched, to prevent the heaving of the cuttings. As a 

 rule, however, hard-wood cuttings are buried on a sandy 



