308 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



June, 1913 



Hydrangea paniculala 

 cutting properly pre- 

 pared 



from the wood by re- 

 ducing the leaf surface, 

 but enough leaf sur- 

 face is left to as- 

 similate food for the 

 new roots as soon as they 

 begin to form. A piece of 

 wood with a sharp edge, 

 and the width of the 

 frame, is pressed into the 

 sand to make a straight 

 mark across the bed in 

 which to firmly place the cut- 

 tings. Place the cuttings in the 

 sand for about half their length, 

 or above the second node, with 

 about two inches between the 

 cuttings in the rows and about 

 three inches between rows. The 

 different varieties should be 

 labeled so that the cuttings al- 

 ways stand behind the label. If 

 this rule is rigidly fol- 

 lowed the cuttings can- 

 not very well be mixed 

 up. Keep watch daily 

 on the cuttings for 

 watering and synngeing. They will not re- 

 quire very much water in the sand bed, 

 but if the weather is hot and sunny they 

 will require frequent overhead syringeing 

 and dampening. 



If all the conditions are favorable, and 

 the cuttings have been made some time in 

 June, they will begin to form roots from the 

 middle to the end of July and about the 

 first of August they will be sufficiently 

 rooted to pot off. 



There is a remarkable trait in the lilacs 

 that I have observed. Dark colored 

 varieties, like Aline Mocquery and 

 Congo, root more freely and with 

 a much larger percentage than 

 white-flowering varieties, 

 such as Princess Alex- 

 andra and Marie 

 Legraye. It is im- 

 portant, that as soon 

 as roots begin to form air 

 be gradually admitted, and 

 before the cuttings are potted 

 off the shading should be 

 gradually removed; but 

 the admission of air 

 and the removal of 

 the shading should 

 be a studied, gradual pro- 

 cess. Three-inch pots are 

 usually about the right size 

 to pot the cuttings in. 

 The potted plants 

 can be placed on a 

 greenhouse bench 

 close to the glass 

 and kept thoroughly 

 watered. If they show 

 any signs of wilting in 

 the sunshine, news- 

 papers can be spread 

 over them for a few days. 



June rooted j n Qne or tw0 m0 nths 

 cutting potted up . ,, A . ., 



in the fail from the time they are 



How the roots de- 

 velop. The first process 

 — the callus formed 



six month's of 

 age: a strong root 

 system and ready to 

 rest for the winter 



put back on the approach of cold weather. 

 In spring the plants can be turned out of 

 the pots and placed in nursery rows. 



The general treatment as for lilacs can 

 be applied with equal success to all "green 

 cuttings" of deciduous trees and shrubs, 

 such as viburnum, euonymus hydrangea, 

 diervilla, berberis, the early blooming 

 spireas, Acanthopanax pentaphyllum, some 

 of the hybrid deutzias, and philadelphus. 

 In regard to diervilla, berberis, early bloom- 

 ing spireas, and Acanthopanax pentaphyl- 

 lum, it is true a certain percentage of them 

 will root from matured cuttings in the 

 fall, but the percentage is so uncertain that 

 it is safer and more profitable to depend 

 upon the much larger "strike" that can be 

 secured from the green cuttings in the 

 summer time. The berberis species can 

 all be readily raised from seeds, and propa- 

 gation from cuttings applies to varieties of 

 some species which cannot be 

 depended upon to come true 

 from seed. Species of berberis 

 hybridize when grown together, 

 and if it is desired to keep them 

 true to type they must be 

 increased by cuttings. Some 

 growers do not pot the cuttings 

 after they have been rooted 

 in the frames. But they are 

 taken and placed in flats and 

 given the necessary harden- 

 ing off, are kept in frost-proof 

 frames over winter and planted 

 from the flats in nursery rows 

 early in spring while still dormant. 

 Another method sometimes em- 

 ployed is to leave them in the 

 propagating frames throughout 

 the fall and winter, excluding all 

 fiost in winter, but giving air 

 on all mild occasions, and 

 as early in spring as 

 weather conditions will 

 permit, and whilst they are perfectly dor- 

 mant transfer them to nursery rows. 

 If this method is followed extreme 

 caution must be exercised in removing 

 them in the dormant state, for if the 

 young plants are permitted to start into 

 growth with their roots still in the sand 

 and are then placed in the nursery rows, 

 very few will survive the ordeal of be- 

 ing handled when so fragile. 



Cutting of 

 Viburnum 

 lentago 



potted the pots will be full of roots. In- 

 stead of placing them on the greenhouse 

 bench they can be placed in the bottom of 

 a coldframe and the sash placed over them 

 for a short time, so as to give the neces- 

 sary ventilation. In three or four weeks 

 from the potting the sash can be re- 

 moved entirely. 



In the winter months the young plants 

 can be left in the coldframe with the sash 

 over them and covered with litter, hay, or 

 leaves to keep out the frost. In mild 

 weather they will be benefited by the 

 removal of the covering, but it must be 



A frame full of cuttings. They are two inches 

 apart in rows three inches distant 



