238 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERS. 



and all other hair-rooted plants, must be layered in sand or in heath 

 soil, but almost all others will root freely in sandy loam. Where the 

 soil and the season are not naturally moist, layers, even in the open 

 gardens, require watering, or, at least, are much benefited by it. 

 Mulching may also be advantageously employed in order to retain 

 moisture. 



Fig. 188. 



A branch ringed and prepared to be rooted in a 

 tin case without separating it from the tree. 



A branch layered in a 

 tin case. 



Hooked pegs were formerly considered as essential articles for fixing 

 down the layers, but the general practice at present is to take a piece 

 of the shoot from the stool, or any waste piece of shoot about a foot 

 in length, or longer if the soil be very loose, and twisting it in the 

 middle so as to prevent it from breaking when bent, to double it like a 

 lady's hair-pin over the shoot, as shown at c, in fig. 182. 



The time which layers require to produce roots varies in different 

 plants, from one to two, and even, in some cases, three or four years. 

 The process of rooting is facilitated by increased heat and moisture, 

 and by ringing below the tongue, or wounded or bent part from which 

 the roots are expected to protrude ; but this operation can only be 

 safely performed where the parent plant is in vigorous health, because, 

 otherwise, it would weaken the root, and prevent it from sending up 

 sap to nourish the layer. In taking off layers which are difficult to 

 root, it is a safe mode not to cut through the layer at once, but by 

 degrees, at intervals of several weeks. In the case of stools in the open 

 air the butt ends of. the shoots from which the layers have been taken 



