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THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



CUTTINGS. Two distinct classes of cuttings must be dis- 

 tinguished, namely, cuttings of woody stemmed plants and cut- 

 tings of soft stemmed plants. Woody stems, as a rule, contain 

 a larger store of reserve food material than do herbaceous stems. 

 Moreover, in the case of the former less water is lost by transpira- 

 tion from the stem. The propagation of woody plants by this 

 method is therefore a rather simpler operation than in the case 

 of plants with herbaceous stems. For illustrative purposes any 

 of the following plants may be selected : Privet, Whitethorn, Lilac, 

 Lavender, Barberry, Syringa (Philadelphus), or Laurel. Select a 



FIG. 53. Propagating Roses from 

 Spring Cuttings. A, cutting with 

 a heel, severed beneath a joint ; B, 

 point of cutting retained ; C, the 

 cutting inserted. 



FlG. 54. Propagating Roses from 

 Autumn Cuttings. A, suitable 

 shoot ; B, cutting prepared for 

 insertion ; C, cutting inserted, 

 with its base on a layer of sand. 



portion of the garden where the soil is good and has been recently 

 cropped. There should be no undecomposed farmyard manure in 

 it. Mark off a rectangular portion four feet wide and twelve feet 

 long. This will be sufficient for a hundred cuttings. Dig over 

 the rectangle a week or a fortnight before the cuttings are to 

 be inserted, so as to give the soil time to settle, and just before 

 planting tread the soil all over so as to make it firm. With the 

 aid of the garden line trace four lines on the bed at a distance 

 of one foot apart, and along these lines make small trenches about 

 four inches deep, and so that one side of each trench is strictly 

 vertical. To provide for aeration and drainage in the case of a 

 heavy soil, sprinkle a layer of sand along the bottom of the trench. 



