226 THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS BY MEANS OF STEMS 
stems in soil, sand, or water where they develop roots and become 
as self-supporting as the parent plant. Such detached portions 
are known as cuttings and consist of a small portion of a stem, as 
Figure 207 illustrates, or only of a leaf, as in the propagation of 
- Fic. 207. — Geranium cut- 
Fic. 206.— The Irish Potato, showing new _ ting, showing the roots devel- 
plants developing from the eyes. oping at the cut end. 
Begonias and a few other plants having fleshy leaves as shown in 
Figure 208. Among cultivated herbaceous plants which are 
propagated by cuttings, the Irish Potato, Geranium, Carnation, 
and Coleus are familiar examples. In Southern countries the use 
of cuttings is well illustrated in the propagation of Sugar Cane, 
as shown in Figures 209 and 210. Other plants of the Grass fam- 
ily, as Johnson Grass and Bermuda Grass, are sometimes propa- 
gated by cutting the underground stems into short pieces, which 
are used in setting fields to grass. Unintentionally, but often to 
