MALLET CUTTINGS 123 



partial dwarfing of the apple is propagated in this manner. 

 The top of the main tree is cut off, thus forcing many ad- 

 ventitious buds along the stem and around the base. When 

 these have made one year's growth they are pulled or cut 

 off of the parent plant and treated as a cutting. Roots 

 readily form from the enlarged base. 



Mallet Cuttings. This method is very similar to the 

 one just described. Instead of cutting out a piece at the 

 base of the branch, the entire limb is removed and a short 

 portion left with each cutting. It possesses no particular 

 advantage over the heel cutting, the chief purpose being 

 to aid in the pruning of the tree. Unless the plant is grown 

 for the purpose of producing cuttings only, the removal 

 of the piece for the heel cutting will leave the branch so 

 weak that it would have to be removed. In all such 

 cases it is just as well to cut the branch off first and then 

 make the mallet cutting. The piece which constitutes the 

 mallet should not project more than one inch on each 

 side of the cutting proper. If the cut can be made with a 

 knife instead of a saw the roots will start more easily. 

 Fig. 55 (6) represents a mallet cutting, while the dotted 

 line running through the base indicates where the cut 

 should be made to produce a heel cutting. 



Root Cuttings. Practically all the tree fruits that 

 will grow readily from cuttings made from the branches 

 may be similarly grown from pieces of the roots. In the 

 case of budded or grafted trees this practice would be of 

 no value, as such root cuttings would only produce stock 

 on which other varieties would have to be worked. Where 

 roots are used for cuttings, branches should be selected 



