ns suited to other hard wooded
plants known to be difficult to root, retained their vitality and passed
satisfactorily through the stages preliminary to rooting. While no
actual roots were secured, the experiments suggest that the rooting of
hickory cuttings is not beyond the possibility of attainment.
As the basis of an experiment this winter, I suggest that you select
half a dozen twigs that you are willing to sacrifice on some good
variety of hickory, and remove a ring of bark at a distance of 4 to 8
inches from the top. The ring of bark removed should be about half an
inch in length and its upper end should come about a quarter of an inch
below a bud. At the present season the bark will not peel from the wood.
It will, therefore, be necessary to scrape it off, so as to leave
nothing but the wood on the girdled area. The bark should be cleanly cut
at each end of this area. I hope that we shall still have sufficient
warm weather to induce the formation of a callus on the cambium at the
upper end of this ring.
Later in the winter, some time in January, you can cut off these twigs
and send them to me, packed as those were last year. The cutting is
preferably made just below the ring. I would prefer that all the wood
from the ring to the tip of the twig be of the past summer's growth. We
can try, however, twigs containing two seasons' growth, if the others
are not easily available."
President Morris: That is a suggestion, you see, of apparent value,
because it has succeeded with blueberries,--this method of cutting off a
ring of bark before the leaves are shed, allowing a ring to callous,
then later cutting off this prepared twig and subjecting it to methods
for striking roots. It is an extremely interesting suggestion. Just as
soon as I heard of this procedure, I went out and prepared about fifty
hickory and walnut twigs myself, but that was this autumn, and I haven't
cut them yet for the experiments in rooting. Has anyone had experience
along this line?
Mr. Collins: I saw an experiment in rooting, and I am prompted to ask if
anything has been done along this particular line. The method employed
was this. The twig was partially cut from the branch, perhaps cut
three-quarters of the way through with a slanting cut. It was then bent
a little, and a little sphagnum put in the cut, then a ball of sphagnum
was wrapped about the whole cut area, and it was tied with twine, and
that was kept wet for several months, I th
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