PROPAGATION' BT CUTTOfrGS. 147 



where they have been stored daring the winter months, 

 to the open ground, need to be handled with great caro, 

 especially if well callused and young roots have commenced 

 to push out ; for any considerable exposure to the light, 

 to drying winds, or to rough handling, will check the 

 root-forming process, if it does not entirely prevent 

 further progress toward growth. In taking out cuttings 

 of this kind for planting, they should be laid carefully 

 in rather shallow boxes, kept shaded, and occasionally 

 sprinkled if necessary to keep them moist while being set 

 out. K kept moist or wet the soil will adhere to them 

 closely, and the new roots come into immediate contact 

 with nutriment. If the ground in which the cuttings are 

 to be planted is rather dry and of a loose nature, it is a 

 good plan to puddle the cuttings before taking them to 

 the place where they are to be planted. Puddling con- 

 sists merely in mixing water with almost any good soil or 

 clay, forming a composition of the consistency of thin 

 mortar ; the lower half or a little more of the cuttings 

 are dipped in this, coating the part immersed in mud, 

 which will adhere and prevent too rapid drying, as well 

 as protect the cutting from injury by light and air during 

 the operation of planting. Puddling cuttings, as well as 

 the roots of plants, is practised extensively by gardeners 

 and nurserymen as a ready means of giving temporary 

 protection during transit from one part of the country to 

 another, and also when transplanting in their own ground. 

 Where the cUmate will permit it, the proper time to 

 plant cuttings is as soon as they are made in autumn, 

 thereby avoiding all removals during the time they are 

 forming a callus or producing roots ; but in cold climates 

 it is usually necessary to give protection of some kind 

 during the winter by placing the cuttings in a position 

 where the root-forming process may not be wholly sus- 

 pended, even during the coldest weather. The cuttings 

 of some kinds of trees and shrubs will grow freely under 



