30 



ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION 



ting. When is it made? Name plants which can be propagated easily 

 by means of hardwood cuttings. What is a cion? Stock? How do 

 we find out what stocks are congenial to the cion? Describe a cleft- 

 graft. When is cleft-grafting performed? Why do we graft? 



Note. The cutting-box may be set in the window. If the box 

 does not receive direct sunlight, it may be covered with a pane of 

 glass to prevent evaporation. Take care that the air is not kept 

 too close, else the damping-off fungi may attack the cuttings, and 

 they will rot at the surface of the ground. See that the pane is 

 raised a little at one end to afford ventilation ; and if water collects 

 in drops on the under side of the glass, remove the pane for a time. 



Grafting wax is made of beeswax, resin, and tallow. The hands 

 are greased, and the wax is then worked until it is soft enough to 

 spread. For the little grafting which any pupil would do, it is 

 better to buy the wax of a seedsman. However, grafting is hardly tc 

 be recommended as a general school diversion, as the making of cut- 

 tings is ; and this account of it is inserted chiefly to satisfy the 

 general curiosity on the subject. But now and then a pupil may 

 make the effort for himself, for nothing is more exciting than to 

 make a graft grow all by one's self. 



The pictures of the cuttings (Figs. 32-35, 38) and the grafts 

 (Figs. 39-41) are one-third natural size. 



Cutting-bed, showing carnations and roses. 



