226 PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 



leaf surface is cut off to reduce transpiration and prevent 

 wilting. 



The cuttings are then placed in sharp sand in a cutting 

 bench or propagating box. As the cuttings should never 

 be permitted to wilt, it is well to water them immediately 

 after planting and to shade them with newspapers. 



Cuttings of many of our ornamental shrubs and vines 

 are made during the summer months from the partially 

 matured growths and placed in outdoor frames. These 

 should be given protection during the first winter but after- 

 wards may be treated the same as plants from hardwood 

 cuttings. 



EXERCISES 



1. Give in detail the three essentials of a good cutting. How 

 would you proceed to determine whether a cutting is of strong 

 or weak vitality ? 



2. What are the external requirements of cuttings? Why 

 apply bottom heat ? Suggest three methods of applying bottom 

 heat to herbaceous plants. 



3. Make samples of simple, heel, mallet, and one-eye cut- 

 tings of the grape or some other woody vine. 



4. Obtain specimens of cactus, begonia, peperomia, or other 

 thick-leaved plants and examine, noting spines, mode of pro- 

 tection from outside, and thickness of leaf. Make three out- 

 line drawings of the leaf and show by dotted lines where the leaf 

 should be cut to propagate it by the many different methods 

 of making leaf cuttings. 



HOME PROJECTS 



i. Plant two rows each of large whole potatoes, medium- 

 sized whole potatoes, small whole potatoes, medium-sized seed 

 halved, medium-sized seed quartered, medium-sized seed cut to 



