.; \:.\. 

 102 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



of two-year-old wood. Great care is needed to cut out all buds, which are very small at the 

 base of the shoots and often on the heel. Third one-bud cuttings : /, fig, with portion 

 of a shoot below the bud ; 7e t vine eye cut transversely above, wedge-shaped below, 

 rooting from the wood with great freedom and producing vigorous growth ; /, vine eye 

 also cut transversely above and below, inserted in its natural position for growing, such 

 forming spreading roots ; m, vine eye cut from the back upwards and downwards, form- 

 ing a sort of triangle with the bud at the upper part inserted, and growing with roots 

 forming freely. All the methods are good, the wedge-shaped (le) being the best. The 

 line across between the cuttings shows the ground level, and the bottom dotted line the 

 depth at which it is desirable to keep the longest cuttings, but this, of course, varies, the 

 joints not being the same in all. 



Truncheons are branch cuttings, often of considerable size, as in the case of the Burr- 

 knot, English Codlin, and other apples ; also the mulberry, which must be taken from 

 the trees not later than February, and inserted a foot deep in the soil, making this 

 firm about them, watering in summer if the weather be dry. 



Layers. Layering is a useful means of increasing trees that do not succeed well from 

 cuttings. It is, however, practised with some trees that readily emit roots from any portion 

 of ripe wood, or a branch placed and kept in moist earth, as of the currant, fig, grape, 

 quince, and such other kinds as can be usefully increased by this method of propa- 

 gation. Layering is a ready means of securing a well-rooted strong tree in little time, 

 as a stock for budding or grafting. A layer is a branch bent into the earth, and half cut 

 through at the bend, the free portion of the wound being called a tongue. It is, in fact, a 

 cutting only partially separated from, but still fed by, the parent. In layering, advantage 

 is taken of the facts that sap flows upwards in branches by the alburnum or young outer 

 layers of wood, and returns by the inner bark, forming wood in its course ; therefore a 

 tongue, notch, ring, or twist impedes the return of the sap from the layer to the main 

 stem, while a small quantity is allowed to rise out of the main stem into the layer. The 

 outcome of this is the concentration of assimilated matter in a certain place, compelling 

 it to organise itself externally in the form of roots. The process is still further 

 accelerated by the bending back which prevents the expenditure of sap in the 

 growths above. 



In layering, all buds not wanted to grow must be removed, especially from the part 

 inserted in the soil, where each layer should be secured with a peg. keeping the soil 

 moist. This method is peculiarly adapted to raising vines in pots for planting or fruit- 



