13 
instances this was about two weeks, the mulch having settled 3 to 4 
inches below the bottom node. At 14 weeks no new vine growth had 
started, but at 15 and 16 weeks the two earliest rooted cuttings had 
started growth, followed by two at 21, two at 24, one at 25, and one 
at 26 weeks. At 27 weeks one rooted cutting had as yet failed to start 
new vine growth. 
Simultaneously with the preceding test 18 additional cuttings made 
January 3 were tied high above the ground against upright slats to 
to watch the root development in air of cuttings of different lengths, 
there being six cuttings of 5, 10, and 15 nodes each. In the first 
seven weeks there was no root development, but in the eighth week 
one of the long and two of the medium cuttings pushed out a root 
from the bottom node. At 24 weeks the former had lengthened to 
26 inches and the two latter to 27 and 3 1 inches. Measurements taken 
weekly showed the weekly increase in root length to vary from nothing 
to more than 4 inches. Due to the greater rainfall in the latter part 
of this period the air was much more moisture-laden than in the 
earlier part, and the root growth was much more rapid, approxi- 
mately three-quarters of the increase in length being made in the last 
seven weeks in two of the three preceding cases. In the seventeenth 
week another medium-length cutting started a root, followed by two 
of the short cuttings in the twenty-first week. At approximately 
these same dates, judging from their development when first seen, 
two of the longest cuttings started roots, one from the sixth and ninth 
nodes up and the other from the top node. In the 24 weeks during 
which these cuttings were under observation, half of the long, half of 
the medium, and two- thirds of the short cuttings failed to develop 
roots. Those cuttings which developed roots became wrinkled and 
shriveled as the root lengthened, while the others remained plump, 
and all remained green. 
In each of the two preceding tests, half of the cuttings had the lower 
nodes protected from the light by wrapping in a yautia leaf, which 
afforded shade until it rotted some weeks later, but no effect on root 
development was seen from shading these nodes. 
Where a piece of vine has been cut away, leaving a section high in a 
tree and entirely unconnected with the ground, a root is sometimes 
seen to have been sent down for a number of feet, even traveling a 
greater distance than the length of the cutting from which it sprang, 
in order to reestablish connection with the ground. This aerial 
development of root shows that vanilla cuttings need not necessarily 
be planted in a medium of soil or mulch, but may simply be tied to 
their supports. The records of root development on cuttings so 
placed show, however, that the development of the cutting under 
this system is very much retarded. 
