The Nursery-Book; a Complete Guide to the Multiplication of Plants
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fm»<<<>>mmmi»mmmm _ wwwMgg i iiiwi iit^wwpiw ^fij BY The Rural Science Series LE BaiWiS///^r Albert K. Mann Libflary Cornell University Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924097691046 THE NURSERY BOOK 'd^t dSacHen- Craft ^ttitfi The Horticulturist's Rule Book The Nursery -Book Plant Breeding The Forcing -Book The Pruning -Book Garden - Making The Practical Garden -Book Others in preparation THE NURSERY-BOOK A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE MULTIPLICATION OF PLANTS BY L. H. BAILEY NINETEHNTU EDITION THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. I914 411 rights resfrvfd Copyright. i8g6 By L. H. bailey Set up and eiectrotyped Au^st, 1896 Reprinted January, 1897, July, 1898, May 1900, July. 1901, Februpty, Septemocr, 1903, February, 1905, January^ June. 1906. August, 1907, June, 1908. July, 1909, March, 1910, January, June, 1911, June, 1912, August, 19x3, June, 1914. f^ount I^Ieaeant I^reeo J. HoEAOB McFabLlAND Compant Harbisbubo • Pennsylvania. PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. This little handbook aims at nothing more than an - account of the methods commonly employed in the pi'op- agation and crossing of plants, and its province does not extend, therefore, to the discussion of any of the ultimate results or influences of these methods. All such ques- tions as those relating to the formation of buds, the reciprocal influences of cion and stock, comparative ad- vantages of whole and piece roots, and the results of pollination, do not belong here. In its preparation I have consulted freely all the best literature of the subject, and I have been aided by many persons. The entire volume has been read by skilled propagators, so that even all such directions as are com. monly recommended in other countries have also been sanctioned, if admitted, as best for this. In the propaga- tion of trees and shrubs and other hardy ornamentals, I have had the advice of the head propagator of one of the largest nurseries in this country. The whole volume has also passed through the hands of B. M. Watson, of the Bussey Institution of Harvard University, a teacher of un- usual skill and experience in this direction, and who has added greatly to the value of the book. The articles upon orchids, and upon most of the different genera of orchids in the Nursery List, have been contributed by W. J. Bean, (v) of the Royal Gardens, Kew, who is well known as an orchid specialist. I have drawn freely upon the files ol magazines, both domestic and foreign, and I have made particular use of Nicholson's Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, Vilmorin's Les Fleurs de Pleine Terre, Le Bon Jardinier, and Riimpler's Illustrirtes Gartenbau' Lexikon. It is believed that the Nursery List contains all the plants which are ordinarily grown by horticulturists in this country, either for food or ornament. But in order to give some clue to the propagation of any which are omitted, an ordinal index has been added, by which one can search out plants of a given natural order or family. It cannot be hoped that the book is complete, or that the directions are in every case best for all regions, and any corrections or additions which will be useful in the preparation of a second edition are solicited. L. H. BAILEY. Ithaca, N. Y., January i, TS91, PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. This manual was first published in 1891, by the Rural Publishing Company. In 1892, the publishers made a second edition from the same plates ; and both editions are exhausted. The book has had no revision or corrections, therefore, until the present time. It has enjoyed a popularity far beyond its merits, and it has, therefore, seemed worth while to fully revise and recast it, and to make it one of the Garden-Craft Series. In this revision, it has seemed best to give a some- what full discussion of the too prevalent assumption that graftage is necessarily a devitalizing process, and to analyze the unclassified knowledge respecting the mutual influences of stock and cion, and the respective peculi- arities of root-grafted and budded fruit trees. Some- thing has also been said respecting the so-called exhaustion of nursery land, and of various other nur- sery matters upon which there seems to be much mis- imderstanding. The Nursery List now comprises the notes and suggestions of many correspondents, and the results of the experience and experiment of five addi- tional years. The entire volume has been thoroughly ran.sacked and renovated, and in this work I have (vii) been aided by B. M. Watson, to whose efficient aid the first edition owed so much, and by my associate, E. G. Lodeman. The chapter upon pollination has been omitted in this edition, because a similar one has been incorpor- ated in my "Plant-Breeding." The ordinal index, which was a separate feature of the other editions, is now included in the regular index. L. H. BAILEY. Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., July i, 189*. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Page Seedage 1-25 1. Requisites of Germination i Regulation of Moisture 1 Requirements of Temperature 7 Influence of Light upon Germination 8 Regermination 9 2. Seed-Testing 9 3. The Handling and Sowing of Seeds and Spores. ... 15 Preparatory Treatment of Seeds 15 Transportation of Seeds from Abroad 19 Sowing 20 Damping-off 23 Spores ; 24 CHAPTER II. Separation and Division 26-34 .' 1. Separation . 26 2. Division 32 CHAPTER III. Layerage 35-43 CHAPTER IV. CUTTA&E 44-72 I. General Requirements of Cuttings 44 Devices for Regulating Moisture and Heat 44 Bottom Heat 53 (ix) X CONTENTS Page Soils 54 The Formation of Roots 55 2. The \'arious Kinds of Cuttings 58 Tuber Cuttings 59 Root Cuttings 60 Stem Cuttings 62 Leaf Cuttings 70 CHAPTER V. Graftage 73-156 1. General Considerations 73 Mutual Influence of Stock and Cion 74 Limits of Graftage 77 General Methods 78 Classification of Graftage 79 Is Graftage a Devitalizing Process ? 81 2. Budding 94 Sliield-budding 95 Prong-budding 105 Plate-budding 105 H-budding 106 Flute-budding 106 Chip-budding 107 3. Grafting 107 Whip-grafting 108 Modified Whip-grafts iii Saddle-grafting 113 Splice-grafting 113 Veneer-grafting 113 Side-grafting 115 Inlaying 117 Cleft-grafting 118 Bark-grafting 129 Herbaceous-grafting 130 Seed-grafting 131 Cutting-grafting 131 CONTENTS. XI Page Double-working 133 Inarching 132 Grafting Waxes 134 4. Nursery Management 138 Nursery Lands 139 Grades of Trees 142 The Storing of Trees 143 Trimming Trees in the Nursery 146 Dwarfing 147 Root Grafted vs. Budded Trees 148 CHAPTER VI. The Nursery List '57-336 Glossary • • 337 Ikdex 349 THE NURSERY-BOOK. CHAPTER I. SEEDAGE. 1. REQUISITES OF GERMINATION. There are three external requisites to the germination of seeds—moisture, free oxygen, and a definite temperature. These requisites are demanded in different degrees and proportions by seeds of different species, or even by seeds of the same species when differing widely in age or in degree of maturity. The supply of oxygen usually regu- lates itself. It is only necessary that the seeds shall not be planted too deep, that the soil is porous and not overloaded with water. Moisture and temperature, how- ever, must be carefully regulated. Regulation of Moisture.—Moisture is the most important factor in seedage. It is usually ap- plied to the seeds by means of soil or some similar medium, as moss or cocoanut fiber. Fresh and vig- orous seeds endure heavy water- ings, but old and poor seeds must be given very little water. If there is reason to suspect that the seeds are weak, water should not be ap- plied to them directly. A favorite method of handling weak and also /. Double seed-pot. very small seeds is to sow them in a pot of loose and sandy loam which is set inside a larger pot, the intermediate space being filled with moss, to which, alone, the water is applied. This device is illustrated in Fig. i. The water soaks through the walls of the inner pot and is supplied gradually and con- stantly to the soil. Even in this case it is necessary to pre- vent soaking the moss too thoroughly, especially with very weak seeds. When many pots are required, they may be simply plunged in moss with the same eflFect. 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 but weak 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 added. A modifica- tion of this plan, for small seeds, can be made by placing the seeds between two layers of thin muslin and inserting them in damp loam, which is frequently renewed to avoid the extremes which would result from watering or from allowing the soil to become dry. In these last operations, no water is applied to the seeds, and they constitute one of the most satisfactory methods of dealing with seeds of low viability. They are essentially the methods long ago used by Knight, who laid such seeds between two sods cut from an old and dry pasture. Even sound and strong seeds should be watered with care.