Cuttings 



the following year, or else a ring of bark is 

 removed. An excrescence is formed in the 

 autumn. The branch is then detached and 

 buried during the winter so that the ex- 

 crescence may swell and become softer. In 

 spring it is taken up again and cut back to 

 only four or five shoots. It is then planted 

 as an ordinary cutting, when roots will be 

 developed from the excrescence formed by the 

 accumulation of the sap. 



The advantage given by the excrescence 

 may be gained without any exertion on our 

 part. If we pull a twig towards the ground to 

 break it off from the branch that supports it, 

 there will be a rent in the angle, and a shield, 

 or part of the base of the twig, will be de- 

 tached with it. This shield, when touched up 

 with the knife to give it a clear section, will 

 provide all the advantages of the excrescence. 

 By its abrupt change of direction it arrests 

 and accumulates the descending sap, and 

 is thus more fit for the production of 

 adventitious roots than any other point. 



Instead of separating the branch by tearing 

 off its base, the older branch may be cut 

 through by the shears, above and below this 

 base, so that the cutting retains a fragment of 

 the branch in the shape of a small crozier. 



183 





