Geranium cuttings should be made just below a leaf stalk. Select healthy 
shoots that have no flower buds 
To prevent crowding of leaves, plant the cutting 
around the outside of the pot 
The Art of Taking Cuttings 
SIMPLE RULES FOR PROPAGATING PERENNIALS—CARE AFTER PLANTING 
Do not let the cutting grow too tall: 
clip back the top shoots 
S. Leonard Bastin 
T HERE are few garden operations of more importance than 
the propagation of plants by taking cuttings. The method 
has many points to recommend it, especially in the case of peren¬ 
nial subjects; in numerous instances the long wait between the 
sowing of seed and the development of a flowering plant can be 
substantially reduced where the specimens are raised from cut¬ 
tings. Moreover, one may depend upon a cutting taken from 
a plant to be absolutely true to the variety on which it was 
produced, a circumstance which is not always a certain factor 
when specimens are raised from seed. So reliable is the cutting 
in its lines of growth that a slight variation in the particular 
part of the plant from which it is taken will be faithfully repro¬ 
duced in the new subject. For example, some of the most 
remarkable varieties of chrysanthemums have been “sports”; 
that is, one section of the plant has produced a distinctive type 
of blossom. Cuttings taken from this special portion may be 
relied upon to follow the variation. One could never be certain 
of this in the raising of plants from seed. 
Although different kinds of plants vary in the matter of the 
best time for the taking of cuttings, it may 
be stated in a general sense that these should 
be secured when there is a reasonable chance 
of the portion of the plant growing. Common-sense will tell 
the gardener that the dead of the winter is not an ideal time 
for this particular mode of propagation, though even here, if 
artificial heal is available, growth can often be stimulated. 
In selecting cuttings from a plant always try to get healthy 
portions. Remember that in the case of most plants the roots 
will only arise from the lower portion of the bud which is packed 
away at the base of each leaf stalk. This is not always the case, 
for some plants, like the Wandering Jew, Tradescantia, will pro¬ 
duce roots from almost any part of their stem. Still, it is well 
always to arrange that one or two leaf buds are at the base of 
the cutting when it is inserted in the soil. The cut should be 
made with the knife just below a leaf stalk. Never select shoots 
which have flower buds on them, as these blossoms will very 
much weaken the new plant if they start to develop — a likely 
happening in the case of many kinds. In other respects it does 
not matter if the cutting is small, always providing it has one 
or two buds, as already indicated; indeed, a short, stubby cutting 
is to be preferred above one which is lanky in growth. A tiny 
portion of a fuchsia, for instance, will rapidly grow into a plant 
of flowering size. In the case of soft-wooded plants it is only 
(Continued on page 47) 
Take rose cuttings 
with a ‘‘heel” 
The diagram shows the depth of planting 
for most cuttings 
In rooting strawberry runners, place the plants in pots filled with soil or fiber, and when sturdy, 
cut the runners, 
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