10 SILKWOEM FOOD PLANTS. 



to beds in the open. The beds should be 5 feet wide. Place the 

 rooted cuttings about 6 inches apart each way and water copiously 

 until established, when they must be freely exposed to air and sunshine. 



WINTER CUTTINGS. 



The cutting. — The principal supply of plants may be secured by 

 propagating from cuttings, which should be made from dormant wood 

 taken from the trees just after the leaves have fallen. 



In no case should the cutting wood be less in diameter than a quarter 

 of an inch. The cuttings (PL X) should be about 10 inches in length, mak- 

 ing the upper cut about one-half inch above a bud. The position of the 

 lower cut is immaterial. The cuttings should now be tied in bundles 

 of fiftj- and either stored for the winter or be immediately put out 

 where they are to root. Where the winters are not too severe, or in 

 the Eastern States south of the thirty- ninth parallel, they should be 

 put in the ground during autumn. North of this it will be found 

 best to keep them under cover until the ground is in a condition to be 

 worked in early spring. If they are kept even for a short time in a 

 dry place, they will lose their sap and become shriveled. Therefore 

 they should be buried in moderately moist sand or sand and ashes. 

 Under such conditions a good callus will have formed around the 

 lower cut surface before the time arrives when they are to be put in 

 the open. If sphagnum moss be easily procurable, it can be used very 

 successfully as a substitute for sand or ashes; but in this case the 

 bundles of cuttings should be smaller and they should be placed with 

 the buds pointing upward, the moss to be packed tightly around them, 

 with the top part uncovered. This is an excellent method for induc- 

 ing the formation of a good callus. 



Preparations for 'planting cuttings. — Previous to putting the cut- 

 tings in the open the soil should be plowed deepl} T , then harrowed 

 and rolled until well pulverized. A furrow is made with a spade to a 

 sufficient depth, a little sand placed in the bottom, and the lower ends 

 of the cuttings placed on top. Fill in the soil to half the depth of the 

 furrow, firm well with the feet, then fill in the remainder of the soil, 

 leaving only enough of the cutting exposed to view to keep the top 

 bud from being covered. Where there is danger of hard freezing 

 weather after fall planting, cover the surface with rough stable litter 

 or dead leaves, this covering to be removed before the buds begin to 

 swell during the latter part of March. 



The rows of cuttings can be arranged in beds of any convenient 

 width, leaving spaces between the beds; this arrangement will facili- 

 tate covering, watering, and hand-weeding. If plenty of good ground 

 is available, enough space should be left between the rows to permit 

 of horse cultivation. During the summer the plants should be gone 

 over several times and all superfluous shoots removed, leaving only 



