MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 435 



Table 3. — The Rooting of Cuttings Taken on the Same Days 



From Trees Showing the Greatest or the Least Response to 



THE Same Treatments. 



Treatment of Cuttings* 



Percentage Rooting 



IB 200 mg./l., 5 hr 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Ditto _..._ 



Ditto... ._ 



Ditto 



IB 200 mg./l., 5 hr., followed by Hormodin No. 3. 

 IB 200 mg./l., 5 hr., followed by Hormodin No. 2. 



IB 8 mg./gm. talc 



Hormodin No. 2 



Fermate-Hormodin No. 3 



NA 100 mg./l., 5 hr... 



*See Footnote 5, p. 4 



There was some earlier evidence (4, 22) that cuttings from certain white pines 

 may root more readily than do cuttings from others, all of the same age. And, 

 as may be seen by reference to Table 3, the results obtained by the writer support 

 this conclusion, cuttings from some trees being much more responsive to a given 

 treatment with a root-inducing substance than cuttings from other trees taken 

 at the same time. 



In Table 3 are listed the percentages of cuttings which rooted in a given series 

 when taken from white pines which proved to be the most responsive or the least 

 responsive to the same treatment with a root-inducing substance. Each line 

 across the table represents a separate experiment involving cuttings taken on the 

 same day in January, February, or March in four winters from two, three, or 

 four trees, usually different trees. It is evident in several of the other tables that 

 there were other trees the cuttings of which showed intermediate responses of 

 varying degrees, some rooting nearly as well as the best, others nearly as poorly 

 as the worst. 



In this and all other tables, as also in the text, the percentages rooted were not 

 recorded until all unrooted cuttings had died. 



In general it appeared that cuttings from a tree which showed greatest response 

 to one root-inducing treatment were niost likely to respond to another. And 

 cuttings from a tree which did not root fairly well after one standard root-inducing 

 treatment were, on the whole, no more likely to root well after another and dif- 

 ferent treatment. This may mean merely that an effective treatment for such 

 recalcitrants has yet to be found. Or it may mean instead that the failure of 

 cuttings from some trees to root well is inherent in them because, for instance, 

 certain trees become senescent earlier than others, or because of the presence 

 rather than the absence of some substance in them, and is not a condition to be 

 corrected by the application of hormone-like substances. 



There were exceptions, but in the majority of cases where comparisons were 

 possible the cuttings which rooted best came from co-dominant rather than from 

 dominant trees. Also it was earlier observed (4) that cuttings which rooted best 

 did not come from the most vigorously growing trees. This may sometimes be 



