930 



Gardening for Amateurs 



the parent branch with the slightest possible 

 bit of the older wood, a practice which is 

 commonly termed " making the cutting with 

 a small heel of the older wood." Do not 

 allow the cuttings to dry or flag before 

 insertion, give them a good watering at once, 

 and place them in a frame kept closed. In 

 some instances roots will form in a fortnight, 

 in other cases the cuttings may be six or 

 eight weeks in making roots. 



The following may all be raised from 

 this kind of cutting : Diervilla, Philadel- 

 phus, Forsythia, Deutzia, Hydrangea, most 

 Spiraeas, many Roses, the dwarf Rhodo- 

 dendrons, Erica, Helianthemum, Escallonia, 

 Viburnum, Clematis, and many others. 

 Some " half-ripe " cuttings, however, can 

 be rooted better in a cold than in a warm 

 frame. Simply make up a bed of sandy soil, 

 moderately firm, in an ordinary cold frame 

 and dibble in the cuttings. Keep the frame 

 closed and shaded from bright sun, giving 

 the cuttings water when necessary. Such 

 cuttings must not be disturbed before spring. 

 Some needing this treatment are Double- 

 flowered Gorse, many of the Brooms, Berberis 

 stenophylla, Hollies and some of the Cistuses. 

 Many cuttings which root well in warmth 

 may also be rooted in a cold frame. Gorse 

 and Berberis rarely form roots in warmth. 

 It is also usual to place Laurel and other 

 cuttings of common shrubs in cold frames. 



Cuttings of the ripened wood of numerous 

 shrubs may be rooted in sheltered borders 

 out of doors. Make the cuttings 8 to 12 

 inches long, and insert them in a slanting 

 position in well-drained, warm land. Cover 

 the cuttings with soil to within 3 inches of 

 the points (soft cuttings are usually inserted 

 about one-third of their depth) and make 

 them quite firm right to the bottom. Flower- 

 ing Currant, Roses, Privet, Cornus, Plane, 

 Willow and Poplar are a few kinds to treat 

 in this manner. 



Root cuttings are used in the case of plants 

 which produce shoots freely from the roots. 

 They are usually made about March and may 

 be placed in pots or boxes under glass or be 

 inserted in an open border. The cuttings 

 should be from 3 to 4 inches long, about the 

 thickness of a lead-pencil, and care must be 

 taken that the upper parts of the cuttings 

 are kept in the right direction. For this 



purpose it is advisable to cut each end with a 

 different shaped cut, one slanting and the 

 other straight, for if cuttings are inserted 

 upside down there is little chance of success. 

 Shrubs which may be increased in this way 

 are Rhus typhina and other species of Rhus, 

 Romneya Coulteri, Clerodendron trichoto- 

 mum, various species of Rose and Robinia 

 hispida. 



Grafting in its various forms is practised 

 in the cases of plants which do not come true 

 from seeds and cannot be readily dealt with 

 by other means. It is quite a satisfactory 

 way of increasing many shrubs, but is often 

 abused. Instead of grafting only those that 

 cannot be increased by other means, people 

 resort to grafting in order to procure plants 

 quickly, and only too often such specimens 

 fail to develop properly in after life. When 

 grafting is practised care must be taken that 

 stock and scion are suited to each other, and 

 in most instances it is wise to graft varieties 

 upon the species to which they belong, or, 

 when that is impossible, upon a very closely 

 allied plant. Everyone can recall examples 

 of grafted trees with ugly gouty swellings 

 on the trunks indicating the point of union 

 of stock and scion ; one has grown much 

 faster than the other, hence the swelling. 

 Conifers are often ruined by being grafted, 

 and many a Fir, Pine or Cypress which fails 

 to grow into a handsome specimen owes its 

 condition to grafting. 



Grafting may be conducted either under 

 glass or out of doors. For the former pur- 

 pose stocks are established in pots and 

 grafting usually takes place during spring. 

 Out of doors, grafting may be conducted in 

 March or early April, and budding during 

 summer. Vast quantities of Rhododendrons 

 are grafted under glass every spring. Clema- 

 tises are also grafted very largely, but plants 

 grown upon their own roots are preferable. 

 One thing to avoid is grafting evergreens 

 upon deciduous stocks or deciduous shrubs 

 upon evergreen stocks, for the association is 

 never very successful. In the early days 

 of the culture of the Deodar Cedar in this 

 country many plants were raised by grafting 

 upon Larch, and for years past our Deodars 

 have been dying prematurely. Neither 

 should side branches of Conifers be used 

 for scions when grafting is practised. 



