56 TREE-PLANTING. 



pagated by art. In France great numbers of trees 

 are raised from seed, but in this country it is chiefly 

 propagated by layers from stools, or suckers from old 

 trees, the best plan being to raise from layers. This 

 is done by lopping over a young plant which has 

 become well established. During the following 

 summer the root produces a number of young shoots, 

 which are bent down, when they have completed their 

 growth for the season, to the depth of five or six 

 inches into the ground, leaving them firmly placed 

 there, with their extremities in an erect posi- 

 tion clear above ground, to form the future tree. 

 These take root during the ensuing summer, when 

 another crop of shoots are produced by the stool. 

 The layers should then be taken away during 

 open weather in winter, or early spring, so as to make 

 room for the next crop of young shoots, in the same 

 method which we have elsewhere described. The stool 

 yielding a number of plants annually, it is desirable 

 that, in order for them to become well rooted, the stool 

 should stand in a sandy, rich, and friable soil. The 

 young plants should be placed in nursery lines for 

 two years, previous to being finally planted out, a foot 

 asunder in the rows, and the lines two feet apart from 

 each other. The young plant forms a more bushy, 

 and fibrous root than most trees, which enables it to 

 be moved with safety when it has attained a size and 

 age beyond that which is common with other kinds 

 of trees ; but they must be moved again, or more 

 space allowed for them to grow in, if intended to 

 stand longer than usual before removal. 



The elm grows freely in soils of opposite qualities, 

 being found in sand, as well as in strong clay, but a 



