1886.] CHAPTERS ON PROPAGATING. 617 



a necessary preliminary to laying down another. This then should 

 be done in autumn as early as it can be done with safety. Ever- 

 greens may be dealt with first, because they can be lifted and 

 transplanted as soon as the ultimate or last-formed leaves are full 

 grown and the points of the slioots of the season are tolerably 

 firm. Deciduous sul)jects, on the other hand, cannot be dealt with 

 till there is a pretty close approach to the end of the autumn, but 

 the fall of the last leaf should not be waited for, the wood must be 

 firm ; but it will be an advantage rather than otherwise if there are 

 a fair number of the leaves attached when the layers are transferred 

 to their own bottoms in permanent quarters. The work of layer- 

 ing should then be set about forthwith as if time were precious, 

 which it is assuredly. J^ow for the mode or modes, for they are 

 several. 



But first let it be understood that where there is much call for 

 the practice of layering on the part of a forester, there should 

 be a well-ordered stool ground established, containing well-selected 

 specimens of the various subjects to be operated upon. These 

 should be planted at such distances apart as will ensure ample 

 convenience for the necessary work, including barrow-work, and also 

 for the spread of the bran^jhes without the risk of their being 

 injured while in growth or disturbed after they are layered. If 

 the requirements are small and there are parent plants of the kinds 

 wanted in the woodlands or grounds, there will be no need for a 

 stool ground of the kind indicated, as the layering may take 

 place where the parent stands, if it is in a practically favourable 

 position for the operation. 



The principal consideration in layering any plant is how best to 

 check the descending sap at a point of the layer placed in contact 

 with and covered with soil. Experience has shown that this object 

 is best attained by making an incision on the under-side of the 

 branch in an oblique direction upwards an inch or more in length, 

 according to the dimensions of the branch, and penetrating to 

 half the thickness of the same. This is the most common method, 

 and when it can be practised is the best. But there are brittle 

 and pithy subjects that will not submit to this treatment ; they snap 

 asunder as soon as it is attempted to bring them in contact with the 

 earth, and elevate the point of the shoot as much as is necessary 

 towards the perpendicular. In such cases barking and scarifying 

 the bark hard into the alburnum or young wood ; ringing the bark, 

 that is, removing it all round or only on the under-side to the width 

 of an eighth or a quarter of an inch; piercing, that is, forcing a small 

 knife or an awl through the branch horizontally, and wiring or 

 twisting a piece of wire round the branch at the point to be layered. 



