CHAP. III. 



CUTTINGS. 



73 



Fig- 9. 



point of junction with the stem, bringing away with it a heel of 

 wood and bark from the stem (Fig. 9, 5). 



None of the leaves, or as few as possible, 

 should be removed from the upper end of 

 a cutting. 



Miss Maling describes a method of 

 treating cuttings, which she says is an 

 American discovery, and a most efficacious 

 one: 



" Lay a set of woody cuttings either 

 amongst slightly-damped moss or else in a 

 wide-mouthed bottle with a piece of damp 

 sponge at the bottom of it ; the cuttings being 

 dropped lightly in, are vleft for ten days or a 

 fortnight in a cool, airy place. A piece of 

 muslin should be tied over the bottle to exclude dust and insects, 

 but allowing air to enter. 



" When what gardeners term a slight callus is formed, the cuttings 

 are all but safe, and put out healthy roots directly they are potted. 

 A heap of dampish moss or cocoa-nut fibre does as well as the bottle 

 plan, only the air must not be quite excluded, and no chance must 

 be allowed of mouldiness." * 



The age or condition of the wood from which cuttings are 

 most suitably taken varies according to the nature of the plant 

 to be propagated. On this point Sir J. Paxton observes : 



" Some propagate freely by 



" 1. Cuttings of the young and tender wood ; as Melastoma, Bar- 

 leria, Astrapasa, Inga, &c. 



" 2. When the wood begins to assume a brownish colour, or is 

 half-ripened, as Ixora Bauhinia, Passiflora, Kuellia, &c. 



" 3. Some only strike freely when the wood is perfectly ripe ; as 

 Grevillea, Blakea, &c. . ."t 



CHAKACTEB OF THE PLANTS PKOBUCED. 



On this subject Sir J. Paxton affords the following very 

 valuable information : 



" In plants, where there are two kinds of branches, one sort 

 ascending, and another branching along the ground like runners of 



* ' Indoor Plants and how to grow them,' p. 12. 

 t ' Magazine of Botany,' vol. ii. p. 55. 



