256 



ON PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



slow, that they remain alive for a long time without receiving external 

 nourishment. The dried cuttings of these plants, therefore, are generally- 

 planted in dry earth, and set in a bed or house filled with warm air, and are 

 not watered till they have formed roots from the nourishing matter accu- 

 mulated in themselves. The roots can scarcely ever penetrate the thick 

 bark, and are produced on the section between the wood and the bark. In 

 some of the Opuntia and Cereus species, however, they come out of the bark 

 at the side. The other succulent and fleshy plants, such as the ^'loe, 

 Haworthia, iS'empervivum, Mesembryanthemum, Crassula, Plumieria, and 

 its congeners, as well as all the Cacti, which form side roots, may be watered 

 as soon as they are planted. Lastly, plants with milky juice require 

 similar treatment, as they are equally liable to damp off. — As soon as a part 

 of one of these plants is cut off, the milky juice exudes in great quantities, 

 covers the whole surface of the cut, and hardens like caoutchouc, by which 

 the vessels are all stopped up, and the ascension of the moisture prevented. 

 In the Munich garden, cuttings of .Ficus, and the dry roots of -Euphorbio, 

 are put in water, where they remain twenty-four hours before they are 

 planted in the earth. The same end is also attained when they are put in 

 dry sand immediately after being cut, and afterwards the sand and the milky 

 juice cleared away ; but the succulent and very milky euphorbias must 

 lie for some time." — Garten Zeitung, May 23rd, 1840. 



584. The soil in which cuttings are planted depends on the greater or less 

 facility with which they emit roots. Cuttings of hardy trees and shrubs 

 that root easily, are planted in common garden soil ; those that are somewhat 

 difficult, in sand or sandy loam on a base of garden soil ; and those which 

 are most difficult in sand covered with a hand-glass. Cuttings of house 

 plants are almost always planted in pots or boxes well drained, and the 

 drainage covered, first, with a la^'^er of good soil, or leaf mould, or peat, ac- 

 cording to the soil which the plants to be propagated naturally prefer ; next 



with a stratum of sand, in 

 which the cuttings are 

 planted. The sand retains 

 as much moisture as is ne- 

 cessary for the existence of 

 F,g. 167. A cutting of a Cape ^^e Cutting, and uo morc, so 



Heath,preparedandvlanted; the^dX itS loWCr end is UOt 



dotted line in this and the follow- lively to rot : and the Stratum 



ing figures of cuttings, represent- n „ *.i i ,i ^ Fig. 168. A cutting of an 



ing the surface of the soil in the oi SOll beloW the Saud SUp- prepared and 



pot. plies nourishment to the planted. 



roots as soon as they penetrate through the sand. The cuttings of Cape 

 Heaths, and almost all plants whatever which are difficult to root, are 

 planted in sand, which is quite free from soil, metallic oxides or salts, and 

 of a pure white colour. 



585. The depth to which cuttings are planted varies according to the length 

 and thickness of the cutting, but in general it should not be more than six or 

 eight inches. On taking up large cuttings, or truncheons of willow or 

 poplar which have been inserted in the ground in order to grow, it will be 

 found that all the roots they have made are within little more than a foot of 

 the surface, and that none have been produced from their lower ends ; more 

 especially if the soil in which they stand should be compact and moist. The 

 same thing will be found to take place with gooseberry cuttings, and those of 



