192 Principles of Plant Culture. 



The processes treated in this and the two succeeding 

 sections may be likened to surgical operations in medi- 

 cine. If plants are less highly organized and possess 

 less of sensibility than the higher animals, they are, 

 none the less, living beings. Violent operations, if nec- 

 essary, should always be performed with this truth in 

 mind. Needless injury and careless handling in tin- 

 treatment of plants are always to be avoided. 



346. Two Methods of Propagation by Division may 

 be distinguished, viz., by parts intact and detached 

 parts. In the first, the part selected for propagation is 

 not separated from the parent until the organs needed 

 to make it self-supporting are formed; or if a cion 

 (386), until it has united to the part on which it is in- 

 tended to grow. In the second method, the part in- 

 tended for propagation is severed from the parent at 

 the outset and placed under conditions favoring the for- 

 mation of the organs needed to make it self-supporting ; 

 or if a cion, favoring its union with the stock (383). 



A PROPAGATION BY PARTS INTACT. 



This method is applicable to many plants and has the 

 advantages of being reliable and requiring little skill. 

 The part selected for propagation, being nourished by 

 the parent until it forms the needful organs, is able to 

 endure unfavorable conditions that would prove fatal 

 in most other methods of propagation. This method in- 

 cludes four divisions, viz., propagation by suckers 

 (347), by stolons (348), by layers (349), and by ap- 

 proach grafting (399). In the first two, the propaga- 

 tion is performed by the parent plant without other 



