302 THE NURSERY. [MARCH 



There are several methods of performing this operation. 



1. Having well dug the ground and made it very light, take some 

 of the most flexible and free-growing shoots, and lay them into it 

 about six inches deep, pegging them down with hooked sticks if 

 necessary, leaving the end of the layer a foot or a foot and a half, or 

 more if the twig be young and healthy, out of the ground, with its 

 head as erect as possible ; keep them moist during the summer sea- 

 son, and if of a free rooting kind, they will take root and be fit to be 

 taken off and removed in the autumn or spring following, if not, 

 they must remain another season. 



2. Tie a piece of wire tight around the bark of the layer, at the 

 place you intend to lay in the ground, and half an inch below a bud ; 

 twist the ends of the wire so that they may not untie, as the shoot 

 swells, prick the parts above and below the wire v ith an awl in seve- 

 ral places, and then lay it in the ground as before directed. This 

 method will succeed when the other fails. 



3. Slit the shoot underneath a joint or bud up the middle, and 

 about an inch long, or a little better, according to the size and nature 

 of the layer, forming a sort of tongue, nearly the same as directed 

 for carnation layers ; laying that part in the earth and raising the 

 top upright, so as thereby to separate the tongue of the slit from the 

 other part and keep it open ; then apply the earth as before. This 

 is the most universally practised and successful mode, when any pre- 

 paration of the shoot is necessary to promote its rooting. 



4. Twist the part of the branch intended to be layed in the earth 

 as you would a willow twig, this greatly facilitates the emission of 

 fibres, and layers of numerous trees and shrubs may be forwarded 

 exceedingly in rooting by this method. 



5. Cut the bark nearly all around, a little below a joint or bud, 

 taking out small chips thereof in several places below the cut, and 

 lay that part in the earth. Some sorts will root more freely by this 

 than any other mode. 



6. Thrust an awl through a shoot at a joint in several places, lay- 

 ing that part in the earth, and it will emit fibres from the wounds. 



After laying, in either of the above methods, there is no particu- 

 lar culture necessary, except in the heat of summer to give occa- 

 sional waterings to keep the earth moist about the layers, which will 

 greatly promote their rooting, and which, if effected the first season, 

 they should be taken off in the autumn or spring following. 



ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON PLANTING. 



Plants are always most prosperous when propagated by seed, which 

 is nature's favorite method. 



Evergreen plants are best fit for transplanting from the seed-beds 

 into nursery-rows when they have attained the height of from four 

 to six inches, and deciduous kinds, when from six to twelve inches 

 high. 



Layers should not be suffered to remain on the mother plants 

 longer than until sufficiently rooted, which will be effected by some 



