CHAPTER IV 



ASEXUAL PROPAGATION OF PLANTS ON 

 THEIR OWN ROOTS 



PLANTS are said to be propagated asexually when they are 

 grown from buds or from tissues capable of developing buds. 

 Some plants are propagated more easily asexually than by 

 seeds. Moreover, many kinds when grown from seeds do 

 not come true to type; that is, they do not resemble the 

 parent plant in all respects. This is especially true of the 

 fruit-trees; for example, if a seed from a Bellflower apple is 

 planted, the resulting tree is prone to bear apples which do 

 not resemble those borne on the parent tree. In asexual 

 propagation, on the other hand, the resulting plants are true 

 to variety. 



71. Plants on their own roots, and on the roots of other 

 plants. Plants are propagated asexually on their own roots 

 by such systems as layering, cuttings, division, and separa- 

 tion, and on the roots of other plants by budding and 



grafting. 



72. Layering. One of the easiest methods of propagating 

 plants asexually is that of layering, in which the stems are 

 rooted while still attached to the parent. The process is 

 simple. A portion of a branch is covered with soil to a depth 

 of three to six inches to keep the parts moist. With many 

 hardwood plants it is helpful to injure the part from which 

 the roots are to form by ringing, twisting, or cutting. The 

 part is staked or weighted down to keep it in place. The 

 following are some of the methods of layering. 



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