BULBS - LAYERS - DIVISIONS 



97 



Simple layers. In the case of many plants 

 roots will easily form when a branch is bent 

 down and covered with earth. This is simple 

 layerage. It is advantageous to peg the branches 

 in some manner and to cut the stem partially 

 through near 

 an eye (see fig. 

 43) at the point 

 where roots are 

 desired. Some- 

 times, instead 

 of notching the 

 stem, the prop- 

 agator breaks 

 it slightly or 

 binds a wire 

 tightly around 

 it. The leaves 

 are then re- 

 moved from the portion of the plant that is buried. Some of 

 the trailing evergreens are propagated by layers, especially Juni- 

 pers and Yew. 



PREPARING PLANTS FOR LAYERING 



Early Spring is the time to prepare for layering. Stock to be 

 layered should be growing with ample room between the plants, to 

 permit of the shoots being layered all around them, and still leave 

 room for cultivating between them. The soil should be con- 



Fig. 43. Simple layering. Note how the branch is bent 

 down; a slit has been cut in the stem at a and held open by a 

 pebble, b; a peg, c, holds the layered branch firmly in the soil; 

 and the stake, d, keeps it upright. Note how the roots 

 have formed 



Fig. 44. Tip Layeringfa Raspberry .11 The shoots have been bent down and covered 



with soil; each one has rooted and produced a young plantlet, which may be severed 



and grown separately 



