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# Reproduction by Root Plants like sweet potato have large, swollen roots. Each such root contains a large number of buds inside them. These buds can rise to a new plant, so each root is capable of giving rise to a new plant. > Carrot, a taproot, is a biennial plant. Its stem produces flowers an...

# Reproduction by Root Plants like sweet potato have large, swollen roots. Each such root contains a large number of buds inside them. These buds can rise to a new plant, so each root is capable of giving rise to a new plant. > Carrot, a taproot, is a biennial plant. Its stem produces flowers and seeds in the first year of its life. These seeds which die by the end of the second year, follow the tap root, just above the produced buds are meant for vegetative propagation. # Vegetative Propagation in Grass Lawn grass has long internodes between successive nodes, creeping on the surface of the ground. From each node, roots are given out and the axillary buds at the node produce new shoots. ## Advantages of Vegetative Reproduction Farmers prefer to grow certain crops by vegetative methods. The advantages in doing so are the following: - Reproduction by vegetative propagation takes place in a shorter time. - New plants, thus produced, spread very fast in a small area. - It is a surer method of propagation. # Artificial Vegetative Propagation These days, farmers and horticulturists develop certain artificial methods of propagation, such as cutting, layering, grafting, and tissue culture. ## Cutting In this method, the stem is cut into small pieces with each bearing an axillary bud. The cut ends are planted in moist soil. After a few days, they strike roots, and grow into new plants. This method is normally employed for propagating plants like sugarcane, rose, China rose, lemon, etc. ## Layering In this method, a portion of plant with an axillary bud at the end of one of the lower branches is bent down to the ground so that it touches the soil. A ring of bark is removed from this portion, which is then covered with soil. Some object, such as a small piece of brick, is kept on the branch so that it does not come out of the soil. In a few days, when the branch has put out roots, it is cut off from the parent plant. It then continues to grow as an independent plant.