PLANT PROPAGATION 



277 



Layering 



Mound layering of Gooseberries. 



Note that the shoots have been cut back previous 



to mounding the soil about the plants; each shoot 



is rooting nicely 



This is the placing of 

 some portion of a branch 

 in contact with the 

 soil so that it may root. 

 It is a very convenient, 

 perfectly simple and cer- 

 tain, method of increas- 

 iDg many plants. Grape 

 canes, for instance, 

 are merely bent down 

 and a node or two 

 covered with soil. They 

 root readily and the 

 new plants can soon be 

 separated from the old 

 one. 



In another type of 

 layering suited to Goose- 

 berries and many ornamentals, a bush is mounded so that each shoot 

 roots, making from five to twenty-five young plants instead cf one. 

 After they are well rooted the plant can be divided and each part will be 

 a separate plant. Strawberry runners are natural 

 or voluntary layers. Enough of them can be 

 left to start a new bed to take the place of the 

 old one. Raspberries are propagated by bend- 

 ing down their tips and covering with soil. The 

 tips root, and the resulting new plants may be 

 transplanted. 

 Tomato 

 stems root 

 nicely when 

 they touch 

 the soil, and 

 Squash stems 

 may be en- 

 couraged to 

 root at sev- 

 eral places ,,,,.,, . , , „ , , . , . 



*^ , Method of layering a woody or half-woody plant, as for instance, 



by covering a Rhododendron or a Carnation, a, Slit or tongue cut half way 



.1 ... - through the stem; b, Pebble to keep slit open; c. Peg for holding 

 ineir JOiniS. down the layer; d, A stake to keep the shoot firm 



