Vegetative Reproduction 



17 



The length of the cuttings or slips may be from a few inches, up 

 to eight or nine feet. The cutting may consist of the entire shoot, or 

 one which has been truncated. In the latter case, it is important 

 that the top of the shoot is removed with a clean slanting cut, so that 

 rain may not lodge on it. Cuttings are usually planted in the place 

 in which it is intended they should grow. Of course, each cutting 

 must have at least one young bud on it, usually several. 



The only points to note in the planting of cuttings are : 



(a) They should be firmly planted. 



(b) The bark should not be disturbed at the inserted end. 



(c) The cut should be made just below a bud. 



Fig- 4- 



A "cutting " showing the slanting cuts, 

 and the rootlets growing from a bud. 



Rotation. There are many dangers to which the young plants 

 are liable, due to insects and fungi, and in many cases a given 

 species of insect or fungus is only dangerous to one species of 

 tree. Moreover, conifers and broad-leaved trees make somewhat 

 different demands on the soil. It will be evident at once, therefore, 

 that it is highly important, whenever possible, to follow a crop of a 

 broad-leaved species by a crop of conifers, or vice versa, as by this 

 method the pests are starved. 



