CUTTINGS 



121 



they die, for the proportion of leaf area to roots is 

 disarranged, it then being difficult to get food from 

 below sufficient for the large evaporative surface of 

 leaves. More cuttings are lost when thus treated 

 than if better opportunity is given for stronger in- 

 itial root growth. Comparatively few cuttings die 

 without sprouting, and many small dry leaves on 

 long tops of the dead indicate that insufficient nour- 

 ishment, from lack of roots, failed to supply the 

 demands of large tops, there being ample vitality in 

 the wood. If the earth is tilled only three or four 

 inches deep cuttings of that length will do very 

 well. Roots will sprout through the bark at the 

 lower ends, as well as at the butts, their growth 

 ordinarily being normal. 



Fig limbs grow well and make good trees when 

 entirely covered up in furrows. The objections to 

 this method of propagation are that roots tend to 

 lateral development instead of going downward, re- 

 sulting in an awkward looking tree that is not com- 

 mercial as nursery stock; and, being connected in 

 trenches each top is firmly attached to many others, 

 and are difficult to transplant. 



The best root systems develop from single buds. 

 This is done by planting cuttings, each containing 

 one bud, about an inch below the surface. The 

 roots tend downward more noticeably than by any 

 other treatment, and develop with attractive sym- 

 metry. Such cuttings require protection from ex-: 



