100 



GARDENING TOR THE SOUTH. 



ner after it has made one or two plants. The new plants, 

 when well rooted, are ready for removal at the proper 

 season. 



Suckers.— These proceed either from the root or from 

 the stem, or collar of the plant. Moot sucJcers are pro- 

 duced from those plants which send out stray horizontal 

 roots, as the sucker is in fact a bud from one of these 

 roots which has pushed its way through the soil and be- 

 come a stem. As this stem generally forms fibrous roots 

 of its own above the point of junction with the parent- 

 root, it may be slipped off and planted like a rooted cut- 

 ting. 



Root suckers are thrown up by some plants, like the 

 currant, close to the main stem ; by others, like the plum 

 and paper mulberry, at considerable distance. Raspber- 

 ries, poplars, roses, lilacs, and many other shrubs and 

 trees, are thus readily propagated, the offspring with the 

 roots that properly belong to it being carefully separated 

 from the parent and replanted in suitable soil. The roots 

 of the parent-plant should be injured as little as possible. 

 Remove the soil, and if the sucker springs from a large 

 root, detach a slice of it with the sucker instead of sever- 

 ing it. The supply of nourishment being diminished by 

 separation from the parent-jolant, the head of the plant re- 

 moved must be cut in, except in the case of coniferous 

 plants, to prevent evaporation. 



The great objection to planting suckers is, that plants 

 grown from them have a much greater tendency to throw 

 out suckers, and thereby become exceedingly annoying in 

 gardens, by encroaching on other plants, than if propagat- 

 ed by other methods. 



Stem Suckers spring from the stem of the old plant 

 where its base is beneath the surface. Shoots originating 

 at this point frequently strike root and become rooted 

 suckers. In plants in which this natural tendency is not 



