growth ; or in evergreens, such wood as has begun to ripen or 

 assume a brownish colour. This is the true principle as to the 

 choice of cuttings as to time, but there are many sorts of trees 

 the cuttings of which will grow at any season in India, if pro- 

 tected from the hot land winds. In some plants, where the 

 sap is comparatively at rest, the principle of life is so strong, 

 and so diffused over the vegetable, that very little care is re^ 

 quisite for their propagation. Cuttings from herbaceous plants 

 should be chosen from the low growths which do not indicate a 

 tendency to blossom, but they will succeed in many cases from 

 the flower stems, and border flowers, as the Dahlia, Rocket, 

 Wall-flower, Nasturtium, &c. 



preparation of Cut- 

 tings is guided by this prin- 

 ciple, viz., that the power 

 of protruding buds or roots 

 resides chiefly, and in most 

 f cases entirely, in what are 

 - called the axillae or joints, 

 where leaves or buds al- 

 ready exist : hence all cut- 

 tings should be evenly cut 

 across with the smoothest 



and soundest section possible at an eye or joint; and the choice of 

 a bud should be in wood somewhat ripened or fully formed, and 

 the section should be made in the wood of the growth of the 

 preceding season, or as it were in the point between the two 

 growths. It is true that the cuttings of some plants, such as 

 the Grape, Mulberry, &c., not only throw out roots from the 

 ring of granulated matter, but also from the sides of every part 

 of the stem inserted in the soil ; but all plants which are diffi- 

 cult to root, such as Heaths, Camellias, Oranges, &c., will be 

 found in the first instance to throw out roots only from the 

 ring of herbaceous matter above-mentioned: and hence the 

 necessity of properly preparing the cuttings. It is not a good 

 practice to take off the whole of the leaves of cuttings, as the 

 leaves in many instances supply nourishment to the cutting 



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