PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



employed in cases of emergency." * These single-budded 

 cuttings or " eyes " are generally employed in propagating the 

 Grape- Vine, and more rarely in the case of Roses and Poinset- 

 tias. . A cutting may vary in size, but is in general from i to 4 

 inches in length, and consists of a young shoot taken off the 

 plant with a sharp knife, after which it is cut off horizontally 

 below a joint and inserted in the earth if hardy, or in a pot of 

 sandy soil if tender. Sometimes the lower leaves require cut- 

 ting away to enable the cutting to be inserted in the soil. Soft- 

 wooded plants, such as Lobelias, Fuchsias, and many others, 

 will strike root freely if severed between the joints anywhere, 

 in fact ; while Geraniums will frequently rot off unless trimmed 

 below a joint : and this is the case with many other plants, 

 especially if their growth is succulent ; hence, as a rule, it is 

 always best to cut or trim cuttings below a joint. Some plants 

 propagate better from " slips " than cuttings " slips " being 

 short side-shoots or lateral branches slipped or pulled off so as 

 to bring with them a heel of the old wood. As a rule, cuttings 

 u strike " better in the spring and early summer than in the 

 autumn and winter, the plants being then more vigorous than 

 is the case later in the season. This is an important fact for 

 amateurs ; but practical propagators, with every appliance in 

 the way of heat and moisture, can afford to ignore nature's way 



of working in this matter. Many 

 soft-wooded plants, or those of 

 succulent habit as Pelargoniums, 

 Helichrysums of the H. bracteatum 

 type, and others of similar char- 

 acter are rather difficult to pro- 

 pagate from cuttings late in the 

 autumn, especially in wet seasons ; 

 and in such cases cuttings taken 

 from pot -plants which have suffered 

 for want of water during the hot 

 weather will be found not only to 

 strike root more easily, but they 

 will not damp off so readily during 

 the -winter, owing to their tissues 

 being firmer in texture. It is a 

 well-known fact that many cut- 

 tings root more freely if they touch the sides of the pot or pan 

 in which they are planted. Our engraving shows a method 

 invented by Mr Forsyth, and fully described in the ' Book of 

 the Garden,' by which this end is secured and provision made 

 for a gradual supply of moisture at the same time. The inner 

 * Book of the Garden. 



Striking Cuttings. 



