THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 205 



stem and roots of many species, cuttings of dormant 

 plants are preferably made at the beginning of the dor- 

 mant period, i.e., in autumn, and placed during winter 

 under conditions favoring the formation of new growing 

 points. 



371. The storage of cuttings. — Cuttings should be 

 stored in a place sufficiently moist to prevent loss of 

 water by evaporation, and warm enough to favor mod- 

 erate root growth but not warm enough to encourage 

 leaf development. Cuttings with ready-formed buds 

 must be kept cool enough to prevent growth of these. 

 Root growth may proceed to some extent at tempera- 

 tures too low to excite the buds. These conditions are 

 usually fulfilled by covering the cuttings in damp saw- 

 dust, sand or loose loam, and storing them through the 

 winter in a moist, moderately cool cellar, or by bury- 

 ing them in the open ground beneath the frost line. In 

 mild climates the latter plan is often preferable. Stem 

 cuttings (373) of plants that do not root freely from 

 the stem are frequently buried with the proximal end 

 (115) uppermost. This gives them, to some extent, 

 the advantage of bottom heat (362), since the surface 

 layers of the soil are first warmed by the sun in spring. 



Cuttings stored in the ground over winter should be 

 taken up and planted in spring before the buds expand. 



Cuttings of evergreen plants should not be buried, as 

 this would destroy the leaves, without which they rarely 

 form roots. Cuttings of these plants are usually made 

 in autumn and planted at once in boxes of sand, Avhich 

 are kept for a time in a light, cool place, as a cool green- 

 house, until the growing points of the roots have formed, 

 after which they are removed to a warmer location. 



