118 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



opcratioQ an upward slit is made half across a joint; and by fixing the part 

 so cut in favourable soil, the latent fibre expands into a root, and the branch 

 becomes an independent plant. This process is adopted with pinks, carnations 

 (the example illustrated in the engraving), roses, and many other plants. It 

 is, however, a very important operation in gardening, and should be neatly 

 executed. Cliooping the suitable branch of a carnation, for instance, which is 



first stripped of all branches below the joint 

 selected, and being furnished with a veiy 

 sharp knife, the operator begins his incision 

 a quarter of an inch below a joint, passing 

 the blade through it in an obhque direction 

 to a quarter of an inch above, taking care 

 that the cut terminates as nearly as pos- 

 sible in the centre of the stem : the tip of 

 the tongue thus made is cut off with a 

 clean sharp cut, and the layer pegged down in a little fine rich mould, but not 

 more than an inch under the soil. In the case of carnations, the plant is in a 

 fit state for the operation as soon as the flowering season is over ; and no stem 

 "which has already produced flowers should be emi^loyed for the purpose. 



256. In the case of roses, and other shrubby plants, all that is required is 

 to run the knife through a joint sufficiently so to make an opening or crack 

 near it, and plant it three inches below the surface of the soil, securing it 

 there with a peg, pressing the soil lightly round it, but leaving that part of 

 the branch above the soU as erect as possible. The roots wUI soon form, when 

 it may be separated from the parent tree and planted out. 



257. Every tree or shrub which produces buds possesses also the incii:)ient 

 root-fibre already mentioned. The young twigs and branches of such trees, 

 if placed in the gi'ound and properly treated, will readily develop these roots, 

 and become, in course of time, vigorous as the parent plant. This mode of 

 propagation by slijys or cuttings is applied to almost every description of plant, 

 but especially to those which refuse to ripen their seed with us, or which 

 consume years in attaining maturit}-, as the ordinary fruit-trees do. To be 

 successful in the operation, the cuttings should be made just at the point 

 where the wood of last year's growth terminates and that of the current year 

 begins : it should be removed with a clean sharp sloping cut just below a bud ; 

 for there lies the latent root. 



•258. In all these oxDcrations, warmth, moisture, and aii*, aVQ equally essen- 

 tial as with seeds ; shade is equally so. These conditions must be supplied 

 by means of bell-glasses, shaded from the sun, and slightly tilted for the 

 admission of air : where the young cuttings occupy pots ; and by hand-glasses 

 when it takes jalace in the open ground ; care being taken that they are not 

 planted too deep. In the case of camellias, fruit-trees, and hard-wooded plants 

 generally, as well as roses, more elaborate processes, called inarching, grafting, 

 and budding, are adopted. By these processes old fruit-trees, which have lost 

 theu' bearing wood, or whose constitution qualifies them for growing varieties 



