102 [ THE OLIVE TREE 



rotted ' manure, 20 to 30 c. m. apart, leaving only 

 about 10 c. m. of the wood above the ground. They 

 must be kept constantly moist during the first summer. 

 Propagation by- layers can be clone at any time of 

 the year, but is hardly ever practised, except in the 

 case of trees with drooping branches which can be 

 layered without much trouble. In any case layers do not 

 root properly before two years, and when transplanted 

 require to be severely cut back removing all the foliage. 



Propagation by rooted suckers is the method more 

 generally adopted by our gardeners, being the readiest 

 and surest way by which the tree can be propagated 

 on a considerable scale. The olive tree naturally throws 

 up suckers from the base of the trunk, either above 

 or below the surface of the ground, and those above 

 the ground are earthed up to favour the emission of 

 roots. The suckers may be of any size from i c. m. 

 to 5 c. m. or more in thickness, and they are removed 

 by a sharp stroke with a pickaxe along with a portion 

 of the gnarled base of the trunk from which it grows, 

 varying in thickness from 5 to 20 c. m. or more, 

 according to the size of the suckers, taking care to 

 reserve as many rootlets as possible, although no 

 sucker without rootlets should be discarded on that 

 account. The sucker is then shortened to 50 c. m. 

 or up to 150 c. m. according to its size, by a clean cut 

 just over a likely bud, preferably removing all small 

 twigs and all foliage. Thus prepared the suckers are 

 then planted out about i metre apart in the nursery, 

 taking care to place no manure in direct contact with 

 the large fresh wound at the base of the sucker, or 

 they may be planted at once at their final destination, 

 at a distance of 5 to 7 metres apart. They should be 

 planted deep enough to have their base covered by 

 at least 20 c. m. of soil when the trough is made 

 around them for watering, and the earth is pressed 

 firmly around them to favour the absorption of moisture 



