20 CARNATIONS AND PINKS 



one shilling per loo), and if cleaned and stored 

 away dry when the layers are taken up, they will 

 last several seasons. A small hand-fork or trowel 

 is also required for loosening the surface soil 

 round the plants, and a soft pad to kneel upon will 

 be a great comfort to the worker. Carefully select 

 the best shoots round the collar of the plant and 

 nearest the ground, and cut away the rest (these, if 

 thought advisable, may be struck as cuttings), thus 

 freeing the plant as much as possible of all growth 

 except the shoots intended to be layered and the 

 flower-stems. Do not attempt to layer too many 

 shoots, since if you do they will be apt to get too 

 crowded when they begin to grow, and so become a 

 prey to disease. Next strip off the leaves from the 

 shoots for layering up to the third or fourth joint 

 from the top. Take the knife and make a clean cut 

 halfway through the joint next below the one to 

 which the leaves have been stripped off, and with a 

 turn of the knife continue it in an upward direction 

 as far as the next joint, thus forming a tongue. Then 

 bend the shoot carefully down and peg it firmly 

 about an inch deep into the soil, which should have 

 been previously loosened to a depth of 2 inches or 

 3 inches, and have had a little of the prepared soil 

 added to it. Repeat this process until there is a circle 

 of layers all round the plant, then water them well 

 with a fine rose, and keep them watered until they 

 are well rooted and ready to plant out in their per- 

 manent places, which will probably be about the end 

 of September or beginning of October. 



