PEOPAGATION OF PLANTS BY CUTTINGS. 65 



from the sun from 9 or 10 A.M. to 3 or 4 P.M., cuttings 

 of nearly all kinds of plants are certain to take root in 

 from ten to twenty days. But the cutting must be in 

 the right condition, and this is best shown by the engrav- 

 ing (figure 24). It will be observed that the upper 

 portion of the shoot is snapped or broken, while the 



Fig. 24. PROPER AND IMPROPER STATE OF CUTTING. 



Other is only kneed or bent. This "snapping point," 

 now term it, is a true indication of proper condition of 

 the cutting. Where it bends and does not break, it is too 

 hard ; and though a cutting will root when in that con- 

 dition, it will be slower in doing so, and the roots thrown 

 out from it will be weaker and more wiry than when 

 emitted from a cutting taken in the condition in which 



