TAMING THE WILD BLUEBERRY 115 



9. Watering should be as infrequent as practicable, only sufficient to 

 keep the sand moist but well aerated and the atmosphere in the box sat- 

 urated. If the sash fits tightly, the period between necessary waterings 

 may extend over several weeks. 



10. After the cuttings have callused at the base, the new twigs have 

 pushed from the upper buds and their growth has been terminated by the 

 browning of the tips, and the new leaves have reached their full size and 

 acquired the dark-green color of maturity, when the formation ef roots is 

 about to begin, the surface of the bed is to be mulched with about half an 

 inch of a mixture of sifted peat, 2 parts, and clean sand, 1 part, carefully 

 watered after application, so that some of the acid water from the peat will 

 be carried down into the sand bed about the base of the cuttings. 



11. When all or most of the cuttings in the frame have begun to root, 

 ventilation of the frame should be begun. The best superficial evidence 

 that a cutting has rooted is the development of secondary twig growth, 

 either from the apex of one of the first set of new twigs or from another bud 

 lower down on the old wood of the cutting. If secondary growth does not 

 take place, the development of a plump but dormant bud at the apex of 

 one of the leafy twigs is also good evidence that the cutting has begun to 

 root. Cuttings that are healthy but not yet rooted at the time ventilation 

 begins usually die from excessive transpiration. 



12. Ventilation should be only slight at first and should be increased 

 very gradually, the transition to full ventilation extending over a period 

 of several weeks. If any of the sensitive secondary growth begins to wilt, 

 reduce the ventilation immediately until the wilting ceases. Be especially 

 careful not to give too much ventilation on windy days. 



13. All cuttings that are dying should be removed from the bed at once. 

 Those injured by too high temperature usually turn brown at the base first, 

 the dead area progressing upward until the new growth collapses. Those 

 otherwise sound but suffering from excessive ventilation before they are 

 rooted usually indicate their bad condition by the marginal yellowing of 

 their leaves before they drop and the stems become withered. 



14. The plants are best left in the open coldframe all winter, mulched 

 with leaves, preferably oak leaves, and in the early spring, before the buds 

 have begun to push, they should be very carefully lifted and moved, with 

 the whole root mat and adhering soil intact, to a peat and sand nursery 

 bed at a spacing of about a foot each way. 



Root Cuttings. 



The early experiments with root cuttings gave such a small per- 

 centage of rooted plants that further experiments in the greenhouse 

 were abandoned. At Whitesbog, N. J., however, in order that the 



