CHAPTER VI 

 PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 



Cuttings. A cutting is a portion of the vegetative 

 part of a plant which may be treated in such a way as to 

 form a new individual. The resulting tree will be in 

 every respect the exact duplicate of the parent from which 

 the cutting was taken, and will need no further treatment 

 in the way of budding or grafting in order to reproduce 

 the same kind of fruit or flower. Plants propagated 

 vegetatively are just as stable, just as hardy, and in 

 every way equally as suitable for the production of 

 fruit as those grown by the usual methods of budding or 

 grafting. 



Every kind of fruit, so far as is known, can be repro- 

 duced from cuttings. The method is practical, however, 

 for only a few kinds, as other ways are easier and less expen- 

 sive. The various fruits are in no way uniform with re- 

 spect to the ease with which they may be propagated from 

 cuttings. Some grow readily from any portion of the plant, 

 others only certain parts can be used. A number, includ- 

 ing most of the nuts and stone fruits can only be grown 

 with great difficulty. It is fortunate for the nurseryman 

 and the orchardist that those fruits which are the most 

 difficult to grow from seed, reproduce with ease from the 

 vegetative parts. 



Ill 



