CHAP. 28.—TREES WHICH GROW FROM CUTTINGS; THE MODE OF
PLANTING THEM.
The myrtle, too, may be propagated from cuttings, and the
mulberry is grown no other way, the religious observances
relative to lightning [Note] forbidding it to be grafted on the elm; [Note]
hence it would appear that the present is a fitting opportunity
for speaking of reproduction from cuttings. Care should be
taken more particularly to select the slips from fruitful trees,
and it should be seen that they are neither bent, scabbed, nor
bifurcated. The cuttings, too, should be thick enough to fill
the hand, and not less than a foot in length: the bark, too,
should be uninjured, and the end which is cut and lies nearest
the root should always be the one inserted in the earth. While
the work of germination is going on, the slip should be kept
well moulded up, until such time as it has fully taken root.