20 G 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



tan, and kept in a dark cellar until about to push roots. 

 Cuttings may be placed loosely in a common preserving 

 bottle, with a wet sponge, the water drained out, and 

 the bottle stopped with a cork which has a half-inch hole 

 in the top to admit air. This may be kept where the 

 atmosphere ranges from temperate to summer heat, and 

 the callus will form very quickly. 



Preparation. — : The way to prepare cuttings for planting- 

 is best shown by an illustration. Figure 82 A shows a 

 cutting formed from a lateral 

 shoot, and has been cut off 

 from the main branch with a 

 heel attached. Such cuttings 

 are sometimes torn out and 

 the bottom smoothed with a 

 sharp knife, so as to present 

 a larger surface for the ab- 

 sorption of moisture. At B is 

 a deciduous, woody cutting, 

 ;is commonly prepared. At 

 C is shown a mode 

 in which grape cut- 

 tings are sometimes 

 prepared ; the two 

 extremities of the 

 fragment of branch 

 at the base are fur- 

 nished with buds. This is a mode which greatly favors the 

 emission of roots. Figure 83 is a cutting of a geranium 

 ready for insertion in the soil. In this case the lower 

 leaves have been removed; they should be clipped but 

 very little farther from the base than where the cutting is 

 to be inserted in the soil. The leaves being kept near the 

 moist surface, do not evaporate as rapidly as when ele- 

 vated much above. The petiole (or leaf stalk) should be 



Fig. 82— Different Forms of Cuttings. 



