Suckers. Varieties are perpetuated and increased by the removal of 

 a portion of the plant, and making it by various means into a new- 

 One. In some cases this is done by means of suckers, which are shoots 

 sent up from the roots or underground stems of many kinds of trees 

 and shrubs. Suckers of some trees, and more particularly Pears, 

 Quinces, Plums, and Cherries, are frequently used as stocks for budding 

 and grafting, but they are, generally speaking, less vigorous than 

 seedlings, and retain the tendency of their parents to throw up shouts 

 from their roots. Figs are often propagaited by removing the suckers and 

 planting them out direct. The usual method of propagating .Raspberries 

 is also by suckers, which form the canes. The runners of Strawberries 

 are simply overground suckers, which have power to form perfect plants. 



Layers. This method of propagation is sometimes adopted, but it 

 is open to the objection that the plants are less vigorous and thrifty 

 than seedlings. Sometimes it is employed for raising blight-proof and 

 dwarfing stocks for the Apple, and the Olive is often increased by this 

 method. Layers are simply cuttings that are rooted without being 

 separated from the parent plants. The operation is readily performed, 

 all that is necessary being to bend down the branches and insert a 

 portion 3 or 4 inches deep in the ground, leaving the end above the 

 surface. The rooting of the branch will be facilitated by cutting a 

 notch just below a bud on the buried part, or making a slit upwards 

 from 1 to 2 inches in length. Hooked pegs are generally used to keep 

 the branches in their places, and in fixing the earth care should be 

 taken that the slit portion is kept open to some extent. Deciduous 

 trees may be layered at any time after the fall of the leaf, but the best 

 time is just before active growth commences in the spring. Evergreens 

 may be layered at various times, but the most favourable period is early 

 in the autumn. What is called Hillock layering is practised by some 

 growers, and more especially with dwarf Apples, the Fig, Quince, and 

 Hazel. When this practice is adopted, the stocks are cut back close to 

 the ground in spring, or early summer, and a mound of earth 6 or 8 

 inches deep is placed over the stump. Young stems will start, and form 

 roots, and in the following autumn or winter these plants should be 

 separated from the parent stems. Trees treated in this way may be 

 layered yearly. 



LAYERING. 



Crook for pegging down Shrub layered by covering the shoots 



layers. and pegging them down. 



