On The Propagation Of Various Kinds Of Shrubs And Plants

Source: The Book Of Sports
Category: GARDENING.



Besides sowing seed and rearing plants from them by transplanting, there
are many other ways of propagating plants, namely, by _off-sets_,
_suckers_, _layers_, _divided-roots_, _cuttings_, and _pipings_. If
tulips and hyacinths be examined, it will be found, that besides
shedding seed, the bulb of the plant very often makes a smaller bulb on
the larger one, and this, if taken off and planted by itself, becomes a
new plant: many plants may be propagated in this way. The strawberry
also, will be found to send off a long shoot, and, at about a foot
distant from the parent root, a little knob appears, having a bud to
spring into the air and a root to work into the ground: this is called a
_runner_. These may be cut away from the parent and planted separately,
and will become a new plant. Many other plants, such as roses,
raspberries, and lilacs, send from their roots little thin stems: these
are called _suckers_, and may be removed from the parent shrub and
planted by themselves, when they will become separate plants. Many
plants can be propagated by what are termed _layers_. To do this,
nothing more is necessary than to select a shoot, as near the root as
possible, and having partially divided it with a knife, make an upward
slit in it, and then placing a bit of twig between the divided parts,
press it down to the ground, burying the joint beneath the surface of
the soil. To plant from _cuttings_, some care is necessary as regards
green-house plants, but nothing is easier than to rear fresh stocks of
roses, currants and gooseberries from cuttings, as it is only necessary
to cut the shoots cleanly off, and, after reducing them to about six
inches in length, to place them in the ground with the shooting end
upwards. They should be planted about six inches apart, and after the
first year be removed to their proper situation; and they will bear
fruit in the following year. To plant from _pipings_, such as pinks and
carnations, it is only necessary to pull off one of the tubular stems,
and dividing it at or near the joint, pull off the surrounding leaves,
and insert the end or jointed part in some fine sand-mould, placing a
glass over them till they have "struck," that is, formed roots, when
they can afterwards be transplanted.


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