BY CXJTTIlirGS OF IMMA.T0EE GROWTHS. 



165 



what mature and firm. Cuttings of the succulent plants, 

 like the Stapelias (figure 58), and the Cactuses and others 

 of a similar structure, are benefited by a few hours or 

 eyen days of drying before planting, or they may be set 

 in dry sand or soil a few days before any water is applied. 

 But at no time should cuttings of these plants be watered 

 very freely, but the sand in which they are set should be 

 kept only slightly moist. Some propagators make a 

 practice of wilting the cuttings of Geraniums, Acacias, 

 Banksias, and many other kinds of plants, before placing' 

 them in the cutting boxes or frames, but others appear 

 to produce just as good results without it, planting the 

 cuttings as soon as made. 



Cuttings of the Leates. — The leaves of many kinds 

 of plants may be employed in 

 making cuttings whenever it is 

 necessary for their rapid mul- 

 tiplication. In propagating 

 woody plants by cuttings of the 

 leaves, the leaf is usually taken 

 off entire, with the petiole or 

 leaf-stalk attached, as shown in 

 figure 59, the leaf-stalk m this 

 case representing the stem of 

 the ordinary cutting. Such cut- 

 tings should be taken while the 

 leaf is fresh and in a condition 

 for supplying the proper ma^ 

 terials required for the produc- 

 tion of roots and buds, and 

 placed in a warm, moist and con- 

 fined atmosphere, or treated in 

 the same way as the ordinary green cutting. Not only can 

 the leaves of the common Lilacs, Eoses, and various other 

 kinds of hardy shrabs and trees be propagated by cuttings 

 of the leaves, but there are hundreds of the common and 



Fig. 59.— LEAP OP LILAO. 



