90 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



The method best suited to the amateur or to those who 

 have no propagating structures, is by layering. 



This is done as shown in figure 30. It will be observed 

 that the cut is made on the upper part of the shoot ; the 

 advantage of this is, that when the layer is detached from 

 the parent plant, the tongue of the layer, or the part from 

 which the roots are emitted, is less likely to be broken off 

 than if the cut is made under or on the side. Layers of 

 Roses may be made at any time from the middle of June to 

 the middle of September, always using shoots of the young 



Fig. 30. LAYERING THE ROSE. 



growth that is, a growth of 3 or 4 weeks old, or such as 

 are not so much ripened as to drop the leaves ; or, in other 

 words, the cut should always be made at that part of the 

 shoot where there are as green and healthy leaves below 

 as above the cut. This condition of the shoot is very im- 

 portant, in order to produce a well-rooted layer. By cut- 

 ting lower down in the harder-ripened wood, roots will be 

 produced, but the layers will be very inferior to those cut 

 at about the point named. The same rule applies to the 

 layering of shrubs of all kinds. 



Another mode of layering not in general use is, to place 

 the layer where the incision is made, in a 3 or 4-inch pot, 

 sinking the pot in the ground to the level of the rim ; all 

 the roots being confined in the pot, when the layer is lifted 

 no check is given, as there is no injury done to the small 

 fibers. Layers so made may be planted out in the fall, 

 and if a little mulching is given around the roots, not one 

 plant in a hundred will fail ; while if the layering is done 



