954 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



For plants which suffer by being shifted (possessing dehcate 

 and easily injured roots) another method may be mentioned. 

 Baskets, boxes, or pots may be fixed in the ground where the 

 branches have to be placed ; the roots will develop in those 

 receptacles, and when the plants are sufficiently rooted they may 

 be transplanted at any time without being in the least affected. Of 

 the present method of propagation Lapagerias are good examples. 



Period of Layering. — According to climate and the nature 

 of the plants, in the case of trees and shrubs layering may 

 be practised from the beginning of spring till the middle of 

 summer, employing the previous year's wood. As regards 

 herbaceous layers, it is more advantageous to perform the 

 operation during the summer, or as soon as suitable branches 

 are available. 



Cuttings. 



Propagation by cuttings is very extensively practised, and is 

 certainly one of the most useful methods. It consists in taking off 

 a living portion of a plant, and placing it under such favourable 

 conditions that it will root and form a new plant. Numerous 

 subjects are successfully propagated by this means, by which 

 also true sorts are kept up — that is to say, without any modification 

 in the type ; for, as already stated, plants propagated by seeds 

 give rise to many unexpected varieties. Not every plant can be 

 propagated by means of cuttings, for although many species 

 are easily multiplied by it, there are a large number for 

 which the method would not answer at all. However, some 

 plants possess in all their parts the qualities required ; and as 

 a striking example we may mention some of the well-known 

 Cordylines, or Dracaenas, from which the head can be detached 

 to form a terminal cutting. The stem can be cut into portions, 

 each of which if provided with leaves can be treated as the 

 first-mentioned ; when leafless, these portions can be placed 

 in moist sand on a strong bottom-heat, when they will give 

 rise to a certain number of young shoots or plants, which can 

 be potted up separately. These all spring from the latent buds 

 which are to be seen at the base of the leaves, 



Cuttings are generally taken from branches provided with 

 leaves. The leafless stems of many plants are also suitable for 

 propagation by this method ; while roots also, for a certain 

 class of plants, and leaves and divisions of leaves, are often 

 used as cuttings, as well as the filiform branches of several 

 plants, &c. 



Cuttings of the majority of our soft-wooded plants require a 

 closer atmosphere, a higher degree of temperature, and a more 

 even degree of saturation than do the plants from which they 

 are taken. Nearly all exotics may be so propagated. For the 

 hard-wooded section such artificial treatment is not required. 



