182 MORE ABOUT STARTING NEW PLANTS 



then the shoots which come up may be pulled off and 

 planted. 



\Yith a few common plants, notably the begonia, only a 

 portion of leaf may be used for a cutting. Perhaps one half 

 of the leaf is first removed, the remainder is then placed in 

 moist sand, its stem being partly embedded. The leaf 

 should not be allowed to dry up. Roots should soon start, 

 and after they have made a good growth, the cutting may 

 be transplanted. 



Tubers, like potatoes and artichokes, are stems, although 

 they grow underground. The "eyes" are the buds on 

 these stems. In reference to potato cuttings, Professor 

 Fraser of Cornell says : 



Early varieties do not do as well when cut; and varieties with 

 white flowers seem to be softer in texture and more liable to failure, if 

 cut, than those with purple or colored blossoms. Some varieties can- 

 not be cut with profit, owing to lack of bud-producing eyes. 



The labor of cutting is often greater than the cost of extra seed. 

 When seed is expensive, as when a variety is new, it is wise to cut as 

 far as possible to secure the largest possible yield in the least time, 

 but this course must be followed by selection, or rapid deterioration 

 of the variety will result. A potato cut into single eyepieces, and 

 each piece planted in a hill, would give a greater yield than it would 

 had it been planted whole. 



130. Modified Stems. In the preceding paragraph the 

 potato tuber was called a stem. The plant modifies its 

 stem into this form in order to store food and grow plasm 

 for reproduction. The farmer meets many other peculiar 

 stems that have also been modified for the same purposes. 



a. Bulbs are scaly and fleshy stems. Certain common 

 members of the lily family, including the onion, are propa- 

 gated by bulbs. 



b. Cforms are solid bulbs. The gladiolus is grown from 

 corms. 



