L. H. Bailey

“ When many pots are required, they may be simply plunged in moss with the same effect. The soil should be simply very slightly moist, never wet. Moisture is sometimes supplied by setting the seed-pot in a shallow saucer of water, or it may be sufficient to simply place it in the humid atmosphere of a propagating-box. Large seeds may be laid upon the surface of the soil in a half-filled pot, covered with thin muslin, and then covered with loose and damp loam. Every day the pot is inverted, the covering taken off and fresh soil is added. ”

“ Chestnut stocks are grown from seeds. Difficulty is sometimes experienced in keeping the seeds, as they lose their vitality if dried too hard, and are likely to become mouldy if allowed to remain moist. The surest way is to allow the nuts to become well dried off or “seasoned” in the fall, and then stratify them in a box with three or four times as much sand as chestnuts, and bury the box a foot or two deep in a warm soil until spring. They do not always keep well if stored or stratified in a cellar. Fall planting exposes the nuts to squirrels and mice. ”

“ Propagation by seeds is not often adopted, as it is a very slow method. The seeds should be sown in very sandy soil, and placed in a semi-shady position until germination commences, when they may be exposed and very carefully watered. Usually propagated by cuttings or offsets, which should be made with a sharp cut, and laid upon a sunny shelf or on dry sand until the wound is healed and roots emitted, when they should be potted in sandy soil. Place with the others, and keep syringed. Grafting is resorted to with weak kinds, which will not grow freely except upon the stock of a stronger species ”

“ A plant will often thrive better upon a species of another genus than upon a congener. The pear, for instance, does better upon many thorns than upon the apple. Sometimes plants of very distinct genera unite readily. Thus among cacti the leafless epiphyllum grows remarkably well upon the leaf-bearing pereskia. It should be borne in mind that union of tissues is not a proof of affinity. Affinity can be measured only by the thrift, healthfulness and longevity of the cion. ”

“ In making cuttings from soft and growing shoots, the first thing to learn is the proper texture or age of shoot. A very soft and flabby cutting does not grow readily, or if it does it is particularly liable to damp-off, and it usually makes a weak plant. Too old wood is slow to root, makes a poor plant and is handled with difficulty in many species. ”

“ Sowing.—The soil in which seeds are sown, especially in in-door culture, should be such as to allow of perfect drainage and at the same time to hold moisture. Good potting soil, with a liberal allowance of sharp sand, is the best for general purposes. Pure sand becomes too dense, and leaf mold alone is usually too loose and open. A proper combination of the two corrects both faults. It is impossible to describe a good potting or seed-bed soil. ”

“ Plum pits are rarely cracked by hand. The strong-growing species and varieties, especially southwards, will give stocks strong enough to bud the first season; but the weaker ones must stand until the next season after the seeds are planted. In all the northern states, however, plum pits are usually sown in seed-beds, in the same manner as apple and pear seeds. The seedlings are taken up in the fall, and the following spring set out in nursery rows, where they are budded in August.
Plums are extensively grown from suckers, which spring in great numbers from the roots of many species. ”

“ It is commonly supposed that an ordinary cleft-graft cannot live if the bark of the stock immediately adjoining it is seriously wounded, but the bark really serves little purpose beyond protection of the tissues beneath. A cion will grow when the bark is entirely removed from the stub if some adequate protection can be given which will not interfere with the formation of new bark. The cion must always possess at least one good bud. In most cases, only buds which are mature or nearly so are used, but in the grafting of herbs very young buds may be employed. ”

“ A crown is a detachable portion of a root-stock bearing roots and a prominent bud. Rhizomes or root-stocks multiply individuals and extend the distribution of the species by means of a progressive movement of the crowns. The root-stock grows during summer, and at the end of the season each branch develops a strong terminal bud which usually produces a flowering stem the following season. The root-stock gradually dies away at its old extremity, and in a few years a single individual gives rise to a considerable patch. ”

“ New varieties are often propagated throughout the season from plants which are highly fertilized, and which are not allowed to fruit. Very strong plants are obtained by growing them in pots. A 3-inch pot is sunk below the runner, and the joint is held upon it by a stone or clod. The runner is then pinched off, to prevent further growth, and to throw all its energy into the one plant. The pot should be filled with soft, rich earth. Shouldered pots are best, because they can be raised more easily than others, by catching the spade or trowel under the shoulder. ”

“ It is not good practice to soak delicate seeds before sowing, and it is of doubtful utility in most other cases, unless it is necessary to soften the integuments of hard-shelled species, as discussed on page 17. The gain in rapidity of germination following soaked, as compared with dry seeds, is really fictitious, inasmuch as germination actually begins in the soaked seeds before the dry samples are sown. The soaked seeds are sown in water rather than in soil, and as conditions are more uniform there, a gain apparently due to soaking may result. ”

“ Ferns which make broad crowns may be divided, and this is the common mode with many species. Some species produce creeping root-stocks, which emit roots if pegged down into a pot of soil or on a block of peat. Several plants can often be produced from such a layer. All these operations are best performed in late winter, before the new growth begins. The tree ferns are rarely propagated to any extent in cultivation, but young plants are imported from their native countries. ”

“ There should be no manure in soil used for seeds which produce a delicate growth, as rhododendrons and kalmias. In all such cases, rotted sod or leafy peat forms the best basis. The soil should be sifted and thoroughly fined before seeds are put into it. Seeds usually require lighter soil than that in which the growing plant will flourish. Cocoanut fiber is sometimes used in place of the soil, as it holds moisture, allows of almost perfect drainage, and does not become “sour.” Fine dead sphagnum moss may also be used. ”

“ Care must be taken not to set them too deep; they are rarely put in over an inch, if the cutting is six or seven inches long. “June stock cuttings” are sometimes advantageously made; here the young shoots of hardy shrubs are taken, when about two to three inches long, the leaves partly removed, and they are planted under glass, precisely as the geranium is treated in the autumn. Several weeks are required for rooting, but good plants are obtained which, when wintered in a cold-frame, can be planted out in beds the next spring. Great care must be given to shading and watering. ”

“ Many growers place a thin layer of fine dead sphagnum moss or of peat over this drainage material, and it certainly makes a useful addition. It is particularly useful in isolated pots or small boxes, as it holds enough moisture to prevent too rapid drying out, while all surplus water is quickly taken off by the coarse material beneath. Over the moss coarse siftings from the soil may be placed, while on top only the finest and best soil should be used. The smaller the seeds, the more care must be exercised in the sowing. ”

“ The particular method of making the cutting and the treatment to which it should be subjected, must be determined for each species or genus. Some plants, as many maples, can be propagated from wood two or three years old, but in most cases the wood of the previous or present season’s growth is required. Nearly all soft and loose wooded plants grow readily from hard-wood cuttings, while those with dense wood are often multiplied more easily from soft or growing wood. Some plants, as oaks and hickories, are propagated from cuttings of any description only with great difficulty. ”

“ Bulbels vary greatly in size and frequency in different species. Sometimes they are no larger than a grain of wheat, and in other plants they are as large as hickory-nuts. In some species they are borne habitually underneath the scales of the mother bulb. These bulbels are often removed when the mother bulbs are taken up, and they are usually planted in essentially the same manner as the bulbs themselves, although it is desirable to place them, at least for the first year, in a bed or border by themselves. ”

“ Bottom heat is helpful to germination in most seeds, but, except in the case of certain tropical species, it should not be strong. It is a common practice to place the seed-boxes on moderately cool pipes under benches in a greenhouse. Seeds of hardy annuals and perennials do not require bottom heat, although « 15 » they may be benefitted by it. If the soil in seed beds should become too cool, watering with warm or tepid water will be found helpful.
It is impossible to give rules for the determination of the proper temperature for different kinds of seeds. ”

“ If only a few plants are to be grown they may be started in pots. When the weather is thoroughly settled, they are transferred to nursery rows, and by fall they will make fine plants. There are various ways recommended for the cutting of these eyes—as cutting the ends obliquely up or down, shaving off the bark below the bud, and so on—but the advantages of these fashions are imaginary. A good eye-cutting is shown in Fig. 50. The foreign grapes are propagated by eyes in the north.
Soft cuttings are sometimes used to multiply new kinds. ”

“ Fertilization between flowers on the same plant is known as individual-fertilization. The limits within which crossing is possible are not known, but the closer the species are related the more readily, as a rule, will they cross. One of the barriers which nature erects to prevent self or close-fertilization « 290 » is a difference in time of maturing of the two sexes. In any flower the two parts are rarely ready at the same time. Flowers in which the stamens mature first are said to be proterandrous, and those in which the pistils mature first are proterogynous. ”

“ Care should be taken to have the stock and cion about the same size, in order to secure a good union. Crown-grafting, root-grafting and budding have not been very successful in this country upon the chestnut. The cions should be cut early, before they begin to swell, and kept dormant until the stock begins to push into leaf. Only vigorous stocks should be grafted. The best results are obtained when the stocks have recovered from transplanting, or when they are from three to five years old. The working of chestnut stocks is far from satisfactory in a commercial way. ”

“ Cuttings should be made of matured shoots or side growths in autumn; insert thinly in well-drained pots of peaty soil, and cover with a bell-glass. If kept in a cool house in winter they will callus, and may, early in spring, be introduced to gentle heat, to encourage growth and the emission of roots. Pot the young plants singly, and grow on in a close but not high temperature, and afterwards harden and keep quite cool during the following autumn and winter, in order to thoroughly ripen the wood. ”

“ When large numbers of plants are desired, as in commercial nurseries, it is often necessary to cut back the parent plant to the ground, or very nearly so, for the purpose of securing many shoots fit for layering. A plant which is cut back in the spring will produce shoots fit for layering the following spring; or some species will produce them in abundance the same year if layers of green or immature wood are desired. ”

“ For layering, good-sized shoots should have a few of their leaves removed, and should then be put in pots of soil until rooted. The plants may afterwards be grown on, and repotted according to their strength. Cuttings may be taken in spring or later in the year, from shoots of the preceding summer’s growth, and placed in a compost of peat and sand, and plunged in bottom heat in a frame. ”

“ It is the common practice to draw a budding-knife over the strings, on the side opposite the bud, completely severing them and allowing them to fall off as they will. If the strings are left on too long they will constrict the stem and often kill the bud, and they also have a tendency to cause the bud to “break” or begin to grow. The bud should remain perfectly dormant until spring, for if it should begin to grow it will be injured and perhaps killed by the winter. ”

“ Wheat, peas and other seeds have been carried through so many as seven germinations after the radicle had grown a half inch or more and the seeds had been sufficiently dried in each trial to render them fit for grinding.
Damping-off is a common ailment of young seedlings and cuttings. The stem becomes brown and constricted at or near the surface of the soil, and it soon rots and falls over. The top of the plant often remains alive and fresh for several days after it has fallen. A fungus is supposed to cause damping-off. ”

“ Some growers keep the cormels a year and a half before planting them out, as they are thought to vegetate more evenly under such treatment; in this case they should be placed in sand to prevent too great drying out.
Adventitious cormels may be produced by various methods of wounding the mother corm, and this practice of exciting them is often necessary, as some varieties do not produce cormels freely. Each bud on the top or side of the corm may be made to produce a separate corm by cutting a deep ring around it, so as to partly divide it. ”

“ It is a common notion that trees grown from suckers sprout or sucker worse than those grown from seeds. Layers are also extensively employed for the propagation of the plum. Strong stools (page 35) are grown, and the long and strong shoots are covered in spring throughout their length—the tips only being exposed—and every bud will produce a plant. Strong shoots of vigorous sorts will give plants strong enough the first fall to be removed into nursery rows. ”