204 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



and be ready to enter into growth with the opening- 

 spring. In more northern climates they may be prepared 

 for planting, and stored in moistened moss or damp earth, 

 and kept from frost. The callus will be forming, and they 

 will be ready to plant in early spring. Generally, cuttings 

 should not be taken when the sap is in full flow, as moist- 

 ure is then rapidly evaporated and the cutting exhausted 

 before roots are formed. They should be taken when the 

 plant is dormant, or when a new shoot has been made 

 with leaves so fully formed and matured as to be in the 



act of forming abundance of w ly tissue. 



In selecting cuttings, they should come from healthy 

 plants, from shoots of average strength, well nourished, 

 but not over vigorous, as the latter are more quickly 

 exhausted when deprived of their usual supply of nour- 

 ishment. Horizontal branches growing near the ground, 

 especially those which recline upon it, have a greater ten- 

 dency to throw out roots. Upright shoots from near the 

 summit are generally, but not always, less likely to suc- 

 ceed. The willow and poplar strike freely from old wood, 

 and trunks of considerable size, if planted, will emit roots, 

 but of most trees the best plants are made from well- 

 matured shoots of the current jear's growth. In the case 

 of hard-wooded plants that are hard to strike, it is a nice 

 matter to select a portion of shoot in which the wood is 

 neither too old and hard, from which roots will uot be 

 readily emitted, or too young and soft, as in this case they 

 will damp off. Rose cuttings strike most readily when 

 not quite fully matured. The proper state of firmness dif- 

 fers in different species. The age at which a cutting of 

 any species will strike best or strike at all, is determined 

 by experiment, but when once ascertained, it is invariably 

 the same. The proper age of an untried species may be 

 proximately determined from that of the most closely 



