CHAPTER XIV 



THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS.— BY SEEDS, 

 DIVISION AND CUTTINGS 



The plant has now been treated from the point of 

 view of its hindrances and enemies, in several chapters. 

 We may now consider the manipulation of the plant, 

 by means of propagating, transplanting, pruning and 

 breeding. ' 



340. Propagation, as the term is generally used in plant 

 culture, is the multiplication of plants, i.e., reproduction 

 (16) encouraged or directed by the knowledge, skill and 

 care of the cultivator. 



341. Methods of propagation. — Plants are propa- 

 gated by numerous methods, but only two of these are 

 distinct in kind, viz., by seeds (or spores), and by division 

 of the plant. In propagation by seeds, the embryo of 

 the seed (53) is the vital center, being in reality a young 

 plant. In propagation by division, a living bud (127) 

 from the parent plant, or a bit of tissue capable of form- 

 ing a bud, is substituted for the embryo of the seed. 

 In seed propagation, the resulting plant is the product 

 of sexual fusion (149), and hence cannot be considered as 

 strictly a part of the parent only. It does not necessarily 

 resemble the parent closely. In propagation by division, 

 on the other hand, the resulting plant may be regarded 



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