PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



19 



and in the right temperature. Cuttings should 

 always be made from plants in a vigorous state 

 of growth ; when budded for flowering, is the best 

 time with many plants. With few exceptions they 

 should be made of the unripened wood. Those of 

 most soft-wood plants should be in that condition, 

 they will easily snap when bent, rather than bend 

 without breaking. Such cuttings root soonest 

 and make most vigorous plants. This test does 

 not apply to woody plants as Roses and Azaleas. 

 Cuttings should not be allowed to wilt either 

 before or after placing them in sand as this im- 

 pairs their vitality. The best material in which 

 to start most cuttings is clear sand free from any 

 foreign substance, though soil, tanbark, brick or 

 charcoal dust, cocoanut fibre and many other ma- 

 terials are sometimes used. Cuttings should not 

 be made too long ; three or four inches will gener- 

 ally answer. They will sometimes root best if cut 

 a short distance above a joint, as the wood directly 

 at the joint is often too hard to strike readily. 

 Those cuttings that touch the sides of the box or 

 pot usually root first. If cuttings of young wood 

 are tongued, or partially severed from and allowed 

 to remain on the parent stem a few days, they will 

 root much more readily. This causes the end of 

 the slip to become partially callused and less liable 

 to decay than the young freshly cut wood and is 

 termed " air layering." 



Perhaps the most difficult point in striking cut- 



