126 Otis F. Curtis 



passed out of the stems, and when the pressure was restored the solutions 

 were forced into the air spaces. 



Cuttings of tomato and Iresine were found to have absorbed from 

 5 to 15 per cent of their dry weight of sugar from a 10-per-cent solution, 

 while Ligustrum cuttings took up from 2 to 3 per cent of their dry weight 

 under similar conditions. In one case untreated tomato cuttings con- 

 tained sugar, measured as hexoses, to the extent of 7 per cent of their 

 dry weight, while the treated cuttings contained sugar, measured as 

 hexoses, to the extent of 17.7 per cent of their dry weight. The treat- 

 ment, therefore, more than doubled the sugar content. The amount of 

 sugar absorbed was approximately that which would be contained in the 

 volume of solution injected; 



As a result of the treatment, cuttings of tomato and Iresine showed 

 an increase in root development over that in the checks. The results 

 obtained with tomato are shown in table 18: 



TABLE 18. Influence of Forcible Injection of Sugae Solutions i^to Tomato 



Cuttings 



In cuttings of Ligustrum taken at the end of the rest period, the forcible 

 injection of sugar caused a distinct retardation in bud development. 

 This retardation was evident in all injected twigs irrespective of the 

 solution used. The twigs treated started bud growth about one month 

 later than twigs not placed under the suction pump, or about forty days 

 after the cuttings were set out; while the buds of the twigs not treated 

 developed in about ten days. Thus the filling of the air spaces with 

 water apparently induces a rest period in twigs that have just passed the 

 normal rest. 



DISCUSSION 



The experiments performed with distinctly immature twigs have shown 

 that cane sugar may be taken up by such twigs and stored as starch, and 



