March 2. 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 
421 
! buds which cluster round the bottom of most of the 
| large ones; and before these very small buds have time 
to swell, the natural force of the season, so to speak, 
; will cause roots to grow. All such cuttings ought to be 
! in little pots of very sandy stuff, pressed rather firm, 
and the cuttings to be close to the sides of the pot; 
then plunge all the pots in the ground, so that the rims 
are just out of sight, and no more; the place to be a 
shady one, where the sun cannot get at them. In dry, 
parching weather, sprinkle them with a little water early 
in the day, and about once-a-week. 
Now, at parting, let me urge on you to use pots, and 
I shall tell you the reason why next time wo meet. 
D. Beaton. 
A FEW HINTS ON THE THEOEY AND PEAC- 
TICE OF PEOPAGATING BY CUTTINGS. 
An amateur lately expressed a desire that I would give 
a few ideas upon this subject, as applicable to various 
circumstances similar to a late article on sowing Pelar¬ 
gonium or other tender seeds. He wanted to know 
something about the rationale of rooting cuttings, and 
the most successful and economical methods to adopt 
during the spring months. These general matters are 
always attended with this difficulty, that the very par¬ 
ticular which the inquirer may most want may be the 
very subject that the writer passes over unnoticed. 
But this is the less to be regretted, when any corres¬ 
pondent may obtain the information he wants, if it is 
possible to supply it, for the expense of a postage-stamp. 
At some other time, though not now, I may have 
something to say upon our friend Mr. Beaton’s theory 
of pruning, respecting which he so courageously bids 
defiance. There seems to be a growing feeling that the 
whole system of Physiology is not the cut-and-dried 
symmetrical affair that books and doctors represented 
it to be. Only a few years ago, and they who, like 
myself, had any doubt of a regular circulation of fluids 
in plants, of watery unelaborated sap upwards, and of 
elaborated organisable juice downwards, and that as 
regular, aud by vessels as distinct, as the veins and 
arteries of the animal system, were, in defiance of all 
potent facts, sneered at as crotchetty sceptics. When 
such facts come to be noticed and reviewed by men of 
great continental reputation, a vague idea steals over 
the Blind that some change must be made in the 
system, as no theory can be of any avail that is not 
based upon, and in accordance with, general facts. 
My belief in the theory that all addition of cellular 
and vascular tissue must proceed downwards, from 
matter now elaborated by the leaves, or stored up after 
being elaborated, was somewhat early shaken in 
attempting to raise plants from cuttings in a hotbed, in 
which, though I was not very successful in getting roots 
to come in the soil, yet, owing to the great atmospheric 
heat and moisture, not only did the upper buds on the 
cuttings swell and elongate, and throw out roots there, 
but the very upper points of cuttings, cut over an inch 
or so beyond the bud, had many of them knobs of 
cellular matter there formed; and from these, when 
kept somewhat shaded, roots protruded, and bung down 
in a pendulous position, while, in two or three cases of 
Orange plant cuttings, some small, leafy appendages 
appeared in connection with this seemingly cellular 
matter, but which dwindled away as the buds below 
began to extend into shoots. Now, although many 
years have passed since then, I thought that the stimu¬ 
lants of heat and moisture could make exceptions to a 
generally-received theory ; for roots came more freely 
from top and sides than from the base of the cutting; 
and as this was not at all a desirable result, nor yet, 
even, under these circumstances, to be relied upon as a 
general one, I drew the inference, that it was unwise 
and undesirable to stimulate and expand the top of a 
cutting more than was needful for its healthy action; 
and this kept in view, young plants will be sturdy in 
their growth, and not drawn and debilitated. 
The mystery of raising plants from cuttings would be 
lessened did beginners recollect that every perfect bud 
could, under proper circumstances, be made into a plant 
as well as a perfect seed. I do not now allude to the 
process of taking a growing bud from one plant and 
transferring it to another, as in Eose-budding; I allude 
to raising a new individual from the single bud. This 
is most generally done with deciduous plants and when 
in a state of repose—such as the Vine, in winter or 
spring. In this case, a piece of the shoot is left on each 
side of the bud; the cellular and vascular tissue are 
thus exposed at each end, as well as the woody fibre. 
To increase this surface, alike for the absorption of 
moisture and the expansion of tissue, many take off a 
thin slice of the bark and alburnum on the side of the 
cutting opposite the bud. These buds, with from half 
to one inch of the shoot at each end, are generally fixed 
firm, horizontally, in a pot of soil, and covered half-an- 
inch, and placed in a briskish beat; two things here 
being worth noting—that the stimulants affect all parts 
of the cutting equally ; and then, again, at potting time, 
it will be found that tissue and roots have been pro 
truded, not from one part continuously, but some at the 
upper end, some at the lower, and others from the under¬ 
side opposite the bud—a fact worthy the attention of 
the physiologist. 
We cannot follow this plan with cuttings from 
growing plants, because the bud would rot in the 
soil. We make the nearest approach to it when, in 
the case of scarce Verbenas and Calceolarias, &c., we 
cut between each joint, fasten the stem in the soil, and 
leave the buds with part of their leaves above, or, in 
extreme cases, and, where the buds are opposite, splitting 
the stem into two. In all such cases, especially when 
the stem is soft, the base and the split sides should be 
dried in the shade before inserting them. There are 
only, comparatively, few things that can be thus ma¬ 
naged. Most cuttings require from two to three buds, 
two being essential; the upper one for the ascending 
stem of the plant, and the lower one, across the base of 
which the clean cut is to be made, for the descend¬ 
ing roots. There are two reasons why this is gene¬ 
rally required. The first is, that at these nodes or 
joints, where leaves are placed and buds are formed, 
there is a consequent concentration of vital forces; 
and the second is, that at these places the stem is 
harder and more dense than between the joints, and, 
therefore, when the knife is sharp and the cut clean, less 
likely to damp or rot at its base. To prevent this latter 
evil still more, all cuttings, except those of small hard- 
wooded things, such as Heaths and Epacris, will be 
benefited by having their bases dried in the shade or 
the sun, in proportion to their succulence, while the 
upper part of the cutting is kept moist and shaded. 
The reasons, why in one case it is recommended to slip 
off cuttings close to the older stem with a lieel, and in 
another to cut through just at the junction of the young 
and older wood, are, that in the former case you may 
obtain an accumulation of vital power at the seat of the 
embryo buds, and in the latter, that from the hard¬ 
ness there may be less danger of damping off. 
Now, unlike the case of dormant buds, to which we 
have alluded, and which, though better to be excited 
gradually, will yet stand a considerable amount of 
sudden excitement without great injury, the great rule, 
in the case of those cuttings taken from growing plants, 
is just to heep them healthy, aud take nature and the 
season of the year for your guide, never giving an addi 
tioual excitement from extra heat, except communicated 
