24 



ON LATING CABNATtOXi, 



tiuuing to cut through the middle of that joint, and one half o$ 

 three quarters of an inch above it. The small portion left under 

 and connected with the joint is to be cut off horizontally, quite 

 close to the bottom of the joint, but not into it, because it is from 

 the outer circle of the bottom of the joint that the fibres proceed, 

 and consequently this part ought to be protected. It is also re- 

 quisite to cut it off close to the joint, because if suffered to re- 

 main, it would decay, and perhaps infect with putridity the joint 

 itself, and kill the plant 



The slip or tongue thus recommended to be made, is for the 

 purpose of interrupting the pulp from flowing downwards, and to 

 enable it to form root fibres, while the sap in the more central 

 parts flowing upwards would not be interrupted, and the layered 

 shoot still continue to grow as if nothing of the kind had hap- 

 pened. If the incision is made with a knife, the layer should be 

 pressed into the soil firmly, and great care must be taken not to 

 break it off or crack it at the joints, for this would interrupt the 

 due supply of sap from the mother plant, and it would also render 

 it liable te canker, and if that should take place the plant must 

 inevitably perish. 



A peg must be forced into the ground close behind the joint 

 where the incision was made in the layer, and not more than half 

 an inch below the surface of the soil, for I have always found 

 that the fibres are soonest formed, when the joint from which 

 they proceed, is barely covered with earth. When buried to© 

 deep they will be out of the reach of the sun's heat, and of course 

 less liable to root, and in many cases decay all together. The 

 remaining part of the stalk of the layer should lie as much as 

 possible upon or above the surface of the soil, but should not 

 on any account be covered deep with earth, for the heat of the 

 sun, and air, being excluded, would inevitably cause it to decay 

 before the layer could be furnished with sufficient nourishment to 

 cause the process of rooting. 



It will be necessary to raise the extreme point of the layer to 

 as upright a position as can conveniently be effected, but it is 

 necessary at first that it should have an exactly erect position, 

 for it will naturally soon acquire this hi its progress of growth. 

 It should not be so horizontal as not to allow the cut part to 

 open sufficiently for the fibres to issue out with regularity on 

 every side. The layers when pressed down should be in a dry 

 state, for they arc so brittle when full of sap that they are liablo 



