PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF CUTTINGS 93 



permeable. Damping-off is less liable to occur in such ma- 

 terial than in denser soils. The same advantages are to some 

 extent present in sphagnum moss and coconut fiber, both of 

 which are sometimes used in place of earth. The " silver sand" 

 used by florists is a very clean and white sand, which derives 

 its particular advantages from the almost entire absence of 

 vegetable matter; but it is not now considered so essential 

 to successful propagation as it was formerly, and fully as good 

 material may often be found in a common sand-bank. 



Cuttings that strike strongly and vigorously may be placed 

 in a soil made of light garden loam with twice its bulk of sand 

 added to it. All soils used for indoor work should be sifted 

 or screened before using, to bring them to a uniform texture. 



Hardwood dormant cuttings are commonly planted outdoors 

 in mellow and light garden loam, well trenched. Only fine 

 and well-rotted manure should be applied to the cutting-bed, 

 and it should be well mixed with the earth. In most cases, 

 a well-drained soil gives best results, but some cuttings root 

 and grow well in wet soils, or even in standing water, as pop- 

 lars, willows, some of the dogwoods, the plane-tree and others. 

 In fact, certain cuttings may be rooted in glasses of water, as 

 of the oleander. 



The striking of cuttings 



When cuttings emit roots and begin to grow, the gardener 

 says that they "strike" or are "struck." The striking of 

 cuttings is the successful rooting of them. The formation 

 of roots is influenced by the way in which the cutting is made, 

 the earth or other medium in which it is set, the temperature 

 and moisture conditions, and other factors. 



As a rule, roots arise most readily from a joint, and it is a 

 common practice, therefore, to cut the base of the cutting just 

 below a bud, as shown in the grape cutting, Fig. 98. Some- 

 times the cutting is severed at its point of attachment to the 



