84 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JANUARY 
it to start new growth, and most perennials put out a whole new 
system of absorptive roots as well as a whole new foliage each year. 
The extent of the new root system is greater than many people 
suppose. (4) As a corollary to this it follows that most plants 
can be successfully transplanted, even by very rough methods, 
during the resting period. This is why I can get three good grape 
vines by mail in a package but little bigger than a lead pencil, and 
all of them grow vigorously. It is, indeed, the basis of the whole 
nursery business. (5) Propagation from bits of resting roots and 
rhizomes is possible in many plants where this method is not usually 
‘practiced. But the practice has become much more common 
commercially in the last ten years, owing to the keen observation of 
the best gardeners. It must be stated that in many cases of the 
transplants noted in this account, the new rootage seemed more 
meager than the production of shoots. Whether all of the sixty- 
one species will survive, or, in the terminology of CLEMENTS, 
- whether their rather violent migration will be followed -by ecesis, 
remains to be seen. 
Cotp Sprinc Harsor, L.I. 
