118 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
by cold and wet, may be planted after the ground is settled and 
warm at a greater depth than before that season. As a rule, 
nothing is gained by sowing tender seeds before the weather is 
thoroughly settled and the ground warm. 
Propagating by cuttings. 
Many common plants are propagated by cuttings rather than 
by seeds, particularly when it is desired to increase a particular 
variety. 
Cuttings are parts of plants inserted in soil or water with the 
intention that they shall grow and make new plants. They are 
of various kinds. They may be classified, with reference to 
the age of the wood or tissue, into two classes; viz. those made 
from perfectly hard or dormant wood (taken from the winter 
twigs of trees and bushes), and those made from more or less 
immature or growing wood. They may be classified again in 
respect to the part of the plants from which they are taken, as 
root-cuttings, tuber-cuttings (as the ordinary ‘‘seed’’ planted 
for potatoes), stem-cuttings, and leaf-cuttings. : 
Dormant stem-cuttings. 
Dormant-wood cuttings are used for grapes (Fig. 122), 
currants, gooseberries, willows, poplars, and many other kinds of 
soft-wooded trees and shrubs. Such cuttings are ordinarily 
taken in fall or winter, but cut into 
the proper lengths and then buried in 
sand or moss where they do not freeze, 
in order that the lower end may heal 
over or callous. In the spring these 
cuttings are set in the ground, pref- 
erably in a rather sandy and well- 
122, The planting of the drained place. 
dormant-wood cuttings. Usually, hardwood cuttings are 
made with two to four joints or buds, and when they are 
