522 1H>W TO M.VKK THE FARM PAY. 



out of the grouud in the spring. Three-fourths ot the shoot 

 should be under ground, with one or more buds above ground, 

 they may be bid in a slanting position, which will bring them 

 nearer to the heat and air. The soil should be pressed closely 

 • the cutting. A third method of obtaining stock is by 

 .... ..RIXO, (see Fig. 124:,) or bending down the branches of the 



plant and covering a portion with earth. The advantage of 

 this method over the preceding, is that the new plant is 

 nouri.shcd ty the mother plant until it has taken root. Layer- 

 ing should be done in the spring, and the new plant cut from 

 the parent in the autumn. Make a slight excavation in the 

 soil near the plant, bend the branch down into the place, make 

 a jjniall cut on the underside, and fasten it in its place. Sprinkle 

 a very little earth over it at first, and more as it sprouts. 

 The end of the branch, shoot, or twig thus layered should be 

 fastened up straight. A fourth method is often successfully 

 adopted with the quince, called Mound Layering. The plant 

 is cut down early in the spring, nearly to the ground, leaving 

 only a few buds at the base. During the summer, shoots will 

 grow from each of these tuds. In the autumn, the earth is 

 drawn up around the base of the plant, so as to entirely cover 

 the old stump; another season, each of the shoots takes root, and 

 in the autumn, strong stocks are ready for the knife. 



Wc repeat that all stocks, whether from seed, cuttings, or 

 layers, should be taken up in the fall and protected, and the 

 Dressing done in the house during the winter. This consists 

 in trimming the roots and cutting back the stem. If the tap 

 root is long and there are but few branching roots, the tap root 

 mu.st be cut back to within a few inches of the stem ; if there 

 are branching roots, they should be trimmed; if but few and 

 short roots, the ends should only be smoothed off; in the case 

 r.f^v..^. nnd cuttings, only those roots that have been mutilated 



