AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 203 



worthless growth (Fig. 86). I have now in my eye such a 

 tree, obtained from one of the best nurseries in the state, which, 

 though not thicker than a man's arm, requires bracing against 

 the wind, while its root suckers are spread over a circle of sixty 

 feet diameter. 



OFFSHOOTS, OR STEM SUCKER STOCKS. 



Many kinds of trees have a habit of throwing out young 

 rig. ST. shoots from the stem at the butt, or just 



above it, especially when the upper 

 growth is checked or cut off. In cer- 

 tain kinds, these young shoots, if touch- 

 ing the earth, root freely, and of this 

 habit advantage is sometimes taken to 

 procure such for stocks by banking the 

 earth around the tree. They are known 



Offshoots from the stem collar , . ,-.-,. ,,_,. 



putting forth rootlets. as offshoots, or stem suckers (Fig. 87). 

 They are really untongued hill layers, and have, in general, the 

 disadvantages of layer stocks. 



LAYER STOCKS. 



Stocks, particularly of cherry and plum, and the dwarf ap- 

 83. pies, are extensively raised 



by layers. For this pur- 

 pose the tree is cut off 

 close to the ground, so as 

 to induce sprouting from 

 the collar. In a few years 

 it loses entirely the char- 

 acter of a stemmed tree, 

 and becomes a mere bunch 

 of sprouts, which, as they 

 are renewed from year to year, are trimmed out and layered 

 (Fig. 88). They are of certain well-known varieties, as the 

 Mazzard cherry, the Mussel or Horse plum, and the Paradise 

 apple, &c., and make tolerable stocks, but are in measure de- 

 fective in root power, being inclined to one-sidedness (see Fig. 

 88), and often also somewhat disposed to produce root suckers. 



