314 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



cuttings. Make cuttings of mature wood in autumn, cutting just 

 below a bud. Scarce varieties may be multiplied by single-eye cut- 

 tings. Fig cuttings are handled in the same way as grape cuttings. 

 Some prefer, however, to place the cuttings where the tree is to 

 stand. A well-grown plant will bear at two or three years of age. 

 Fig. 112. 



The fig is readily budded and grafted, but these methods are 

 seldom used, because the plant is so easily multiplied by cuttings. 

 Shield, ring or tubular buddings are employed. Various methods 

 of grafting are adapted to it, and cleft-grafting is usually employed 

 on old plants. 



In California, the best fig cuttings are made from short-jointed 

 well-ripened wood about 9 inches long, with the terminal bud un- 

 disturbed. These should be planted in sandy loam, with top of 

 cutting just above the surface, and kept well irrigated until suffi- 

 cient growth is made, usually 3 or 4 feet the first year. They grow 

 to best advantage in the warmer interior valleys. 



Filipendula (Meadow-Sweet). Rosacece. 



Propagated by seeds sown in fall in pans or boxes and kept in a 

 cool greenhouse, or in spring in a frame ; also by division of older 

 plants. 



Fittonia. Acanthacece. 



The fittonias grow readily from cuttings of any part of the stem ; 

 cuttings from the tips of shoots, cut to one joint, are usually 

 employed. Propagate every year to get compact plants. Also 

 increased by division. 



Fceniculum : Fennel. 



Fontanesia. Oleaceoe. 



Layers and seed are used for propagation; also by greenwood 

 cuttings in early summer under glass; or it may be grafted on 

 the privet, although this is little necessary as cuttings root so 

 readily. 



Forsythia (Golden-Bell). Oleacea. 



Grown extensively from green cuttings in summer, in a frame ; 

 also grown from ripe cuttings taken in fall and winter, and planted 

 in the open air in early spring. Also raised from seeds. The 

 shoots of the drooping kinds take root freely at the tips. 



