120 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
Green cuttings. 
Softwood or greenwood cuttings are usually made of wood 
that is mature enough to break when itis bent sharply. When 
the wood is so soft that it will bend and not break, it is too 
immature, in the majority of plants, for the making of good 
cuttings. 
One to two joints is the proper length of a greenwood cutting. 
If of two joints, the lower leaves 
should be cut off and the upper 
leaves cut in two so that they do 
not present their entire surface to 
the air and thereby evaporate the 
plant juices too rapidly. If the cut- 
ting is of only one joint, the lower 
end is usually cut just above a joint. 
In either case, the cuttings are usu- 
ally inserted in sand or well-washed 
gravel, nearly or quite up to the leaves. Keep the bed uniformly 
moist throughout its depth, but avoid any soil which holds so 
much moisture that it becomes muddy and sour. These cuttings 
should be shaded until they begin to emit their roots. Coleus, 
geraniums, fuchsias, carnations, and nearly all the common 
greenhouse and house plants, are propagated by these cuttings 
or slips (Figs. 123, 124). 
124. Verbena cutting. 
Cuttings of leaves. 
Leaf-cuttings are often used for the fancy-leaved begonias, 
gloxinias, and a few other plants. The young plant usually 
arises most readily from the leaf-stalk or petiole. The leaf, 
therefore, is inserted into the ground much as a green cutting 
is. Begonia leaves will throw out young plants from the main 
ribs when these veins or ribs are cut. Therefore, well-grown 
and firm begonia leaves are sometimes laid flat on the sand and 
