100 MISC. PUBLICATION 434 5 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Hardwood cuttings can be planted in either fall or spring. If 

 fall planted, they should be ridged over with soil as is done with the 

 seed rows. Spring planting, however, has given better results and is 

 preferred by most nurserymen. Spring-planted cuttings can also be 

 ridged over if leafing out is not immediately expected, but the ridges 

 should be removed as soon as the buds start unfolding. The Forest 

 Service nurseries have followed the practice of planting the cuttings 

 about an inch apart in drill rows in soil that has been loosened by 

 trenching or subsoiling. Thorough firming of the soil around the cut- 

 tings and immediate irrigation if the soil is dry, are necessary steps to 

 assure success. Cuttings should be planted to a depth that will leave 

 one bud or approximately 1 inch of top exposed above the ground 

 level. 



Root cuttings are often used in the propagation of lilac. Cuttings 

 2 to 3 inches long are made during the fall and early winter from the 

 larger roots of older plants. Root diameters of one-fourth to one-half 

 inch have proved satisfactory. These cuttings are held in moist sand 

 over winter in outdoor pits and planted early in the spring. They may 

 also be fall planted. Planting is accomplished by opening a furrow 

 to a depth of 2 inches, laying the cuttings horizontally in this furrow, 

 and covering them with a ridge of soil, the same as is done with seed 

 rows. Lilac can also be propagated by summer cuttings as described 

 by Yerkes (^1) to obtain specially desirable types, but the considerably 

 lower cost of propagation from seed apparently will preclude any wide- 

 scale use of summer cuttings. 



Wildings and Root Suckers 



Wildings are used in lieu of nursery-grown stock for several of the 

 species planted in the prairie plains. Cottonwood, lilac, tamarix, 

 and currant can be used fairly successfully as wildings. Of these, 

 cottonwood gives best field survivals. 



Cottonwood wildings are occasionally scarce and those available 

 are quite likely to require heavy culling because of borer infestation, 

 injury from stock grazing, or other factors. As a measure of safety, 

 therefore, the Forest Service nurseries are adopting the practice of 

 growing at least a portion of their cottonwood requirements from seed. 

 Nursery-grown cottonwoods are generally cleaner and thriftier plants 

 than those collected as wildings. Transplanting has been found to 

 assure a higher survival of small cottonwood wildings. If transplanted 

 to the nursery for a year, these wildings develop a better root system 

 and become more drought hardy. 



Lilac and currant might properly be classed as root suckers rather 

 than wildings since they are obtained by separating the root suckers 

 from around the edges of older bushes. Figure 35 illustrates the better 

 type of lilac root suckers. This species, however, gives better field 

 survival if grown from seed for 2 years in the nursery. 



Cottonwood and tamarix are usually obtained from river sand 

 bars and flats along the borders of lakes. These species seed naturally 

 in late spring and by fall have usually reached a usable size, although 

 in some instances, particularly in the northern States, 2 years may be 

 necessary. They are ordinarily dug in the fall, and subsequently 

 handled the same as nursery stock. When the ground is wet, the 





