Chapter xxxvi 



SLIPPING 



' T3 ROPAGATION by means of a slip or scion cut 

 A % from the parent tree and so placed that it will 

 develop adventitious roots we may for convenience 

 speak of as slipping. The cut end of the slip is set 

 in the ground in some cool, moist, shady spot where 

 evaporation is slow and the temperature mild. For 

 delicate slips the shelter of a bell-glass is often neces- 

 sary in order to insure the requisite moisture in the 

 atmosphere and thus prevent the slip from drying 

 up before it has sent down roots to make good its 

 losses. For greater surety, if the slip has many 

 leaves, most of the lower ones are removed in order 

 to reduce the evaporating surface as much as pos- 

 sible without compromising the plant's vitality, 

 which resides especially in the upper part. But in 

 many cases these precautions are needless; thus, to 

 propagate the grape-vine, willow, and poplar, it 

 suffices merely to thrust the detached scion into the 

 ground. 



"Trees whose wood is soft and well filled with 

 sap are the ones best fitted for slipping ; to this class 

 belongs the willow, with its notably tender fiber. 

 On the other hand, wood that is dense and hard gives 

 us sure warning that this mode of propagation will 



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