380 



LESSON'S WITB PLANTS 



is the seed. The propagation -unit in vegetative 

 multiplication is the smallest part of root, stem 

 or leaf which will grow when severed from the 



Fig. 405. 



An ideal hand-glass for 

 cuttings. 



Fig. 406. 



A simple and good propagating 



box made of five panes of glass and 



a shallow wooden or zinc pan. 



parent (although this is not a morphological or 

 structural unit in the plant -body) ; and, for the 

 purpose of terminology, this part may be called 

 a phyton. 



Suggestions. — Many plants are propagated with the greatest 

 ease by means of cuttings, sometimes even in the school-room 

 window. A miniature greenhouse may be made by laying a pane 

 of glass over a wooden box, and the cutting-bed is made by put- 

 ting three or four inches of gravelly or sandy soil in the bottom 

 of the box. The sides of the box should not be more than four 

 or five Inches higb above the top of the soil. The glass cover 

 (which must be raised occasionally for ventilation^ will maintain 

 an even temperature and moisture in the box. Better results will 

 be got under bell-jars, or simple glass frames like those in Figs. 

 405 and 406. Common geraniums are probably the best plants for 

 the learner to begin on. Full directions for the propagation of plants, 

 by all methods, may be found in Bailey's "Nursery -Book." 



