PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 149 



trees, of course judgment must be used in the quantity of 

 pruning done to each tree. While no amount here in Sep- 

 tember or early in October will do any harm to bearing trees, 

 it will be safer to let them alone after that time, though it 

 is hard to hurt young pear trees in this section with pruning 

 at any time, as the water is so near the surface, and the dow 

 of sap is never entirely suspended in summer. I have pruned 

 severely at all times, and never saw any damage except after 

 that heavy crop, dry summer and severe early winter prun- 

 ing, in '93. At the North, however, where blight is so much 

 more prevalent, I would never prune a pear or apple tree 

 until the leaves were all out in spring. The Cape Jessamine 

 is also largely grown here from cuttings, and under proper 

 conditions the cuttings root with scarcely a failure. June is 

 the best month to plant, or just after the spring bloom is 

 gone. Make the cuttings about eight inches long, leaving 

 one or two leaves on the upper end of each. Bury in shal- 

 low trenches, running east and west, and incline a 12-inch 

 plank over the trench, supported on slanting stubs driven 

 into the ground. This will keep the evening sun ofi and 

 should be left until fall, when every one will be rooted il :he 

 ground has been kept moist all the time. They can be ouned 

 quite thickly and still root well, after which set in nursery 

 rows, removing nearly all the root, and they will make tine 

 bushes the next season. Roses can also be rooted very 

 readily the same way, and doubtless many other evergreen 

 plants. The Cape Jessamine will also root with great cer- 

 tainty if the leaves are all stripped off and the cuttings made 

 about six inches long, and planted the last of February or 

 in March. 



