PORTUGUESE GARDENS 19 



an upward slit made in the ordinary way, and the 

 pot is then filled with soil. In two or three months 3 

 time, I was assured, the branch would be well rooted 

 and ready to be transplanted to its fresh quarters. 

 It seemed a simple method of increasing rose-trees, 

 which, as a rule, in climates like those of Madeira, 

 flourish much better when grown on their own 

 roots than grafted on to a foreign stock. The 

 same system appears to answer admirably for the 

 increase of shrubs and even trees, and is exten- 

 sively adopted for creepers, especially bougainvilleas, 

 which do not strike readily from cuttings ; so it is 

 no uncommon sight to see pots lodging among the 

 branches of trees, with a layered branch ready to 

 form a new tree. 



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