PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



55' 



TABULAR VIEW OF THE SOILS AND OTHER MEDIUMS IN WHICH 

 CUTTINGS MAY BE ROOTED OR SEEDS SOWN. 



(Both physiology and practice have decided that dormant eye or bud 

 cuttings of the thoroughly ripened wood, as in the Grape- Vine or 

 Poinsettia and cuttings of the root, as in Caphaelis, Bouvardia, 

 Aralia, Solanum, Drosera, &c. are best treated precisely like seeds, 

 so far as covering with soil, heat, partial darkness, and moisture are 

 concerned ; indeed, theoretically speaking, seeds are marginal leaf- 

 buds.) 



Herbaceous Cuttings. There are but few hard-wooded plants 

 in cultivation, whether hardy or tender, that cannot be propa- 

 gated by herbaceous cuttings that is, cuttings of the young 

 wood taken off just as the base of the shoot begins to harden 

 and the lower leaves are fully formed. Cuttings of this descrip- 

 tion should be cut quickly, and at once inserted into cutting 

 pots or pans, or pricked into a bed of light sandy earth in a 

 close pit or frame where a humid atmosphere can be main- 

 tained, to prevent flagging through superfluous evaporation. 

 In the case of tender shrubs, a gentle bottom-heat of 60 to 70 

 is an additional incentive towards root-formation, as genial heat 

 and humidity quicken the action of the leaves and cause the 

 more rapid formation of the loose cellular tissue at the base of 

 the shoot (technically called "callussing"), from which the 

 young roots proceed. Hollies, Conifers, and most other hardy 

 shrubs and trees from which seeds are not readily obtainable, 



