PROPAGATION BY EYES. CUTTINGS. 331 



scending roots combine and form the wood, their ascending 

 stems give rise again to new buds. These buds are all ex- 

 actly like each other : they have the same constitution, the 

 same organic structure, and the individuals they are capa- 

 ble of producing are, consequently, all identically the same ; 

 allowance, of course, being made for such accidental inju- 

 ries or alterations as they may sustain during their subse- 

 quent growth. It is upon the existence of such a remark- 

 able physiological peculiarity in plants, that propagation en- 

 tirely depends ; an evident proof of which may tffe seen in 

 this circumstance. Take a cutting of a vine consisting only 

 of the space which lies between two buds, or an internodium, 

 as botanists would call such a piece, and no art v* ill succeed 

 in ever making it become a new plant, no matter how con- 

 siderable the size of the internodium may be.* But, on the 

 other hand, take the bud of a vine without any portion of the 

 stem adhering to it, and it will throw out stem and root, and 

 become a new plant immediately. If we examine the various 

 modes employed in horticulture for propagating plants, we 

 shall find that, however different they may be in appearance, 

 they all consist in the application of these principles under 

 various forms. It will be most convenient to consider these 

 methods separately. 



Propagation is effected by the arts of Increasino^ by Eyes., 

 Striking from Cuitings, Laying, Budding, and Grafting. 



PROPAGATION BY EYES. 



Increasing by Eyes is the simplest of all these methods ; 

 it consists in nothing but extracting a single system of life, 

 or a bud, from a given plant, placing it in due heat and 

 moisture, and surrounding it with fitting food, and thus caus- 

 ing it to grow as a solitary individual, instead of as one of 

 the community to ^vhich it originally belonged. 



CUTTINGS. 



Striking from Cuttings is a slight modification of the last 

 method. Instead of taking a single bud, a stem containing 

 two, three, or more buds, is placed in circumstances fitted 



* This is, of course, said without reference to the power which some planta 

 possess of developing latent buds, — a subject which is foreign to the present in- 

 quiry. 



