PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 87 
foot or more in diameter and ten or twelve feet in length can 
generally be made to grow, but probably the most convenient 
size for general planting is one-half inch in diameter and twelve 
inches in length. They are generally tied in bunches of 100 or 
200 each for convenience in handling, and care should be taken 
to keep all the butt ends one way to facilitate planting. Very 
large cuttings are liable to decay in the 
center, and are not best to use, although 
they often make a very rapid growth. 
Poles of willows and poplars are some- 
times laid in furrows where they will gen- 
erally sprout wherever the bark is laid 
bare and often make good trees. 
In Planting Cuttings of ordinary 
size it is a good plan to have the soil loose, 
and then, after marking off the rows, the 
cuttings can be pushed into the land the 
proper depth. If not desirable to plow 
all the land, it may be loosened just where 
the rows are to come. Where a subsoil 
plow can be obtained, it can be made very 
Figure rr A bunch useful for this purpose. 
of willow cuttings. 
Cuttings should be planted at an angle 
of about forty-five degrees, leaving only one bud above the sur- 
face of the ground and the soil should be packed firmly around 
Figure 12. Planted cuttings, showing angle and depth 
at which to plant cuttings. 
them. Those set in a slanting position settle with the soil and 
remain firm, while those set vertically mav become loosened 
by the settling of the soil near them, leaving too much of them 
exposed above the surface, unless very great care is exercised 
in planting. The rows in the nursery should be about four feet 
apart, and the cuttings about six inches apart in the rows, though 
