PROPAGATION BY LAYERING. 



87 



Fig. 63. A COMMON LAYER. 



A, the incision ; B, hooked pcj 

 <7, stake. 



support. In the Grape, Gooseberry, or Currant, a simple 

 notch below a bud is sufficient, and they will root if sim- 

 ply pegged down ; but roots 

 are formed more rapidly 

 when the shoot is cut one- 

 third through, and slit as 

 described. 



A long "shoot of the vine 

 may be layered at several 

 points, and thus produce 

 several rooted plants in the 

 course of one season. This 

 is called serpentine layering 

 (fig. 64). The Quince, Para- 

 dise, and Doucin stocks, 

 where raised in large quan- 

 tities, are propagated in a 

 different way from that de- 

 scribed. The process requires much less labor ; and 

 where plants root so freely as they do, it answers every 

 purpose. 



We will take a plant of the quince, for example, and, 

 in the spring, before growth commences, we cut it down 

 nearly to the ground, leaving four or five buds at its base 

 (A, fig. 65). Dur- 

 ing that season, a 

 number of vig- 

 orous shoots will 

 be made. The 

 following au- 

 tumn or spring 

 the earth is 

 drawn up around 

 the base of the Fi -' ^.-SERPENTINE LATER. 



plant, so that the crown, where it was cut, will be covered, 

 and, consequently, the base of all the shoots for several 



