44 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



One bud ai 

 least to be 

 left. 



Seedlings 

 often vary 

 from parent 

 plant. 



Cuttings to 

 be taken 

 from the 

 best plants. 



has been copied by man, who now propagates plants by it at 

 will. The branch to be layered is bent down to the earth, 

 or to the soil placed in a pot or a bo.K, and kept immovable by 

 a peg or by some other contrivance, and in order to stimu- 

 late the branch to give off roots, the connection with the 

 present stem may be partly cut through, or be twisted or 

 even broken. After a time roots will be formed and then 

 the connection may be severed altogether. 



Propagation by Division.— This is a very simple and 

 sure way of multiplying those plants that have many roots 

 and stems — such for instance as guinea grass, cardamoms, 

 ginger, arrowroot, &c. The whole plant is dug up, the earth 

 shaken from the roots, and then it is divided into as many 

 plants as it can safely give. Care must be taken that, at 

 least, one growing bud is left on each divided plant, other- 

 wise the new plant will not grow properly. 



Propagation by Cuttings.— This is a very important 

 way of propagation, for by it the individual peculiarities of 

 the plant are maintained. In the case of seeds there is 

 often a variation between the parent plant and the seedling, 

 but this is obviated by multiplying the individual by cuttings. 

 The cultivation of the sugar cane is carried on by cuttings, 

 and bamboos, sweet potatoes, cassava, &c., are propagated 

 in the same way. Cuttings should always be cut across as 

 smoothly as possible, just below an eye or bud on the stem 

 or branch of the plant, and in this way there is more chance 

 of the cutting striking root. In the propagation of plants 

 by cuttings on a large scale, as is done in the West Indies, 

 sufficient care is not taken to secure good parent plants. 

 The writer of this work has often seen sugar cane " plants," 

 as the cuttings are sometimes called, taken from the worst 

 and smallest canes in the field, and then the planters have 

 been surprised afterwards to find their canes puny and 

 backward. But a cutting will always reproduce the pecu- 

 liarities of the parent plant, and vigorous sugar canes 



