CUTTINGS 49 



taken as a general principle that plants having buds, bark, and more or 

 less pithy stems are capable of being increased by this means. This 

 practically includes all the Dicotyledons except annuals (see p. 78) 

 and excludes many Monocotyledons (p. 127) and Ferns (p. 1008). 

 Plants are often increased by cuttings simply because there is no other 

 way — but chiefly because seeds will not ripen or cannot be procured. 

 Special varieties are also increased by cuttings, as, if raised from seeds, 

 the distinguishing characters may be lost or blended with those of 

 another variety, as already explained at p. 42. 



Selecting Cuttings. — Cuttings should always be selected from 

 healthy plants and the best varieties. When herbaceous, they are taken 

 from the young plump shoots. A few of the lower leaves are stripped 

 off, and the stem is cut away to a joint. Herbaceous cuttings may be 

 put in whenever they can be obtained, but spring and autumn are 

 perhaps the best seasons. If cuttings of choice plants are placed in a 

 little heat, as on a hotbed (p. 46), and kept shaded for a few days, they 

 root or ' strike ' much more quickly than if left unprotected in the open 

 air. But cuttings of a vast number of herbaceous plants and of trees 

 and shrubs root easily in a shady border or in a cold frame. 



Until a cutting makes roots of its own, it must continue to live 

 somehow. It is well known that plants with roots wiy suffer from 

 want of water, and that very hot sunshine will often cause the leaves 

 to wither even when the roots are well supplied with water. How, 

 therefore, is a piece of a plant which cannot absorb water, as it has no 

 roots, and cannot prevent the evaporation of the moisture already in it, 

 going to exist for any length of time, and not only exist, but produce 

 roots and eventually develop into a large plant from which several other 

 cuttings may be taken ? It is well known that portions of plants placed 

 in water often keep fresh and healthy for a long time, especially if kept 

 shaded from bright sun. This fact is taken advantage of in regard to 

 cuttings. They are usually placed in damp, sandy soil, and are kept 

 shaded from the sun. Air is also excluded for a time. In this way 

 evaporation is checked, the cuttings retain a good deal of their plump- 

 ness, and the cells of the cut surface when cleanly cut with a sharp 

 knife have the power of taking up and transmitting from one to another 

 a certain quantity of water. 



The roots have stiU to be formed, otherwise the cuttings die, as they 

 cannot live indefinitely in a rootless condition. In making cuttings 

 they are usually cut clean across just beneath a jbint with a sharp knife. 

 The reason for this is that at every joint is one bud or more, usually in 

 a dormant condition. These buds become plumper and plumper on 

 the plant until they burst into leaf or flower. They evidently have the 



