94 



THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



parent branch, and a small portion, or "heel," of that branch 

 is allowed to remain on the cutting. This heel may be nothing 

 more than the curved and hardened base of the cutting 

 at its point of attachment, as in the cornus cutting, 

 Fig. 99. Sometimes an entire section of the parent 

 branch is removed 

 with the cutting, as in 

 the "mallet" cuttings 

 of grapes, Fig. 100. 

 Of course, compara- 

 tively few heel or 

 mallet cuttings can be 

 taken from a plant, 

 as only one cutting 

 is obtained from a 

 shoot, and it is ad- 

 visable, therefore, to 

 "cut to buds" rather 

 than to "cut to heels"; 

 yet many plants de- 

 mand a heel if the most 

 satisfactory results are 

 to be obtained. The 

 requirements of the 

 in 

 be 



FIG. 98. 

 Hardwood 

 grape cut- 

 ting. 



different species 



this regard can 



learned only by ex- 

 perience; but it may be said 

 that in general the hardest or 

 closest wooded plants require a 

 heel or a joint at the base. Wil- 

 lows, Currants, baSSWOods and FlG - 99 ' Heel cutting of cornus (x f) . 



others with like soft wood, emit roots readily between the 

 buds, yet even in these cases propagators generally cut to buds. 



