PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF CUTTINGS 



105 



in moss, sand or sawdust in a cellar until spring. (See page 87.) 

 There is no general rule to govern the length of hardwood 

 cuttings. Most propagators 

 prefer to make them 6 to 10 

 inches long, as this is a con- 

 venient length to handle, 

 but the shorter length is pref- 

 erable. Two buds are al- 

 ways to be taken, one bud 

 or one pair at the top and 

 one at the bottom, but in 

 "short-jointed" plants more 

 buds are retained. Some- 

 times all but the top buds 

 are removed to prevent the 

 starting of shoots or sprouts 

 underground. Grape cuttings 

 are now commonly cut to 

 two or three buds (as in Fig. 

 98), two being the favorite 

 number for most varieties. 

 Currant and gooseberry cut- 

 tings (Fig. Ill) usually bear 

 six to ten buds. All long hardwood cuttings are set perpen- 

 dicularly, or nearly so, and only one or two buds are allowed 

 to stand above the surface. A hardwood cutting of fig, 

 after it has made roots and a terminal shoot, is shown in 

 Fig. 112 (Reimer, N. C. Bull. 208). 



When the stock is rare, 

 cuttings are made of single 

 eyes or buds. This is par- 



FIG. 113. Single-eye grape cutting (x *). ticularly the case with the 



grape, and currants and many other plants are occasionally 

 grown in the same way. Fig. 113 shows a single-eye grape 



FIG. 112. A well-rooted cutting of fig. 



