SOFT-WOODED OK BEDDING PLANTS. 



209 



not only farther enfeebled already feeble plants, but the 

 prospect of rooting these cuttings in hot weather was 

 nearly hopeless ; so a compromise was decided on, which, 

 for want of a better term, we call " layering in the air." 

 As shown in figure 54, the shoot is " tongued " in the 



Fig. 54. MANNER OP TONGUING THE GERANIUM. 



manner of an ordinary layer. This has the effect to arrest 

 the upward flow of the sap at the incision, which, of course, 

 acting to some extent as if the shoot had been taken off, 

 induces a branching out below the "layer," providing 

 shoots for further operations. But the effect on the vigor 

 of the plant is much better than if the layer or shoot had 

 been detached ; for, by the time it takes to get hardened 

 and form a callus, the shoots branching out below the cut 

 are fit to supply the loss of foliage sustained when the 



