17 



the soil must be cut off at the third bud from the surface. 

 If rains should not frequently occur after the plantation 

 is finished, it would be necessary to water the plants 

 often. The multiplication of mulberry trees by means of 

 cuttings is said to have the important advantage of two 

 years in advance over the establishment of a nursery by 

 means of seed in Europe. 



BY LAYERS. 



To make layers is to force a branch or a shoot of a tree 

 or of a shrub to become itself a tree or a shrub, by putting 

 a branch or a shoot into the ground without separating it 

 from the parent tree. The spring is the most suitable 

 season for this operation. The shoots which arise at the 

 foot of a tree, the youngest smooth branches found about 

 the lower part of the mulberry, any other branches that 

 are long and supple enough to be secured in the ground, 

 and lastly, the shoots of a young tree whose trunk is not 

 high and which may belaid easily, maybe used. If there 

 arise some vigorous shoots at the foot of a mulberry tree, 

 a hole must be dug six or ei<jht inches deep near each 

 shoot, into which the shoot must be laid without twisting 

 it or separating it from the tree. It is then to be secur- 

 ed in its place with crotchets of wood and covered with 

 good mold, which must be pressed over it, and the end 

 of the shoot which rises above the ground must be cut off 

 above the second bud. It will be further necessary to 

 place by the side of the layer a stake to mark the place 

 and prevent its being trodden. It must likewise be wa- 

 tered immediately after the operation, and as often after- 



