SUGGESTED PRACTICUMS 295 



Then discard bandage, cut stem close to wound, remove some leaves, 

 and plant in flower pot. Suitable subjects : Dracjena, pandanus, rub- 

 ber plant, croton. 



17. Runners, stolons and off-sets. — Anchor rosettes of leaves 

 produced by strawberry, buckbush, houseleek, etc., in soil outdoors oi 

 in 'greenhouse and sever from parent plant when rooted. Compare 

 plants grown thus in pots with those grown near-by in the open 

 ground or on greenhouse bench. 



Separation 



18. Cut a bulb of each class in half from top to bottom and 

 another from side to side, each through the center. Make drawings to 

 show formation of various parts. (Easy and cheap bulbs: 1, tulip or 

 hyacinth, 2. tiger or Easter lily, 3, crocus or gladiolus.) 



19. After tops have died down in spring and any time until 

 midautumn, dig up bulbs of any spring blooming bulb. Note and make 

 drawings of the way bulblets are produced. 



20. Do same with various lily species. 



21. In fall, when tops of gladiolus, montbretia, tigridia, and 

 other summer blooming bulbs have turned yellow, do same thing. 



22. In midsummer collect bulblets in leaf axils of tiger lily, 

 make cross and vertical sectional drawings of some and plant others 

 in moist soil at various depths from surface to three or four inches 

 deep. Note results. 



23. Wound and handle bulbs as described (115) and note results. 

 (Classes in consecutive years may do various stages of work as sug- 

 gested under exercise in mound layering.) 



Division 



24. In spring, dig up and cut in pieces with spade large clumps 

 of rhubarb, phlox, iris, etc. ; plant the cut parts and note results. 



25. In fall dig up clumps of canna or dahlia, store in dry warm 

 quarters till late winter, then cut apart so each piece will have at least 

 one "eye" or bud, and plant in pots in warm greenhouse. 



26. From late August to early October dig up, divide and plant 

 peony clumps. 



27. In spring cut up clumps of plants mentioned in 24, but by 

 method given in 25. 



Cuttings 



28. In autumn, after the leaves fall, make cuttings of rnature wood, 

 bury some tops up, others tops down out of doors and side by side : 

 store some in various media (sand, dust, moss, powdered charcoal) and 

 some uncovered in a humid, cold but frost-proof cellar ; make other 

 cuttings in spring, bury some butts up, other butts down for two or 

 three weeks ; plant all lots side by side, previously having made notes 

 of their condition. Show in tabular form the results secured after six 

 weeks or two months' growth outdoors. Choose both easy and difficult 

 subjects ; willow, alder, maple, elder, currant, hickory, apple, pear, 

 quince, Japanese plum, American plums of several species, European 

 plum, peach, poplar, elm. catalpa, gooseberry, lilac, grape, etc. 



29. Root cuttings. — In fall dig well-established blackberry or 

 red raspberry, "stool" at least a foot from the outside all around ; 

 shake out earth; cut roots of one-eighth to one-half inch in diameter 



