1847. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



169 



HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT, 



CONDUCTED BY P. BARRY. 



We have on hand replies to several corres- 

 pondents, together with several articles and noti- 

 ces intended for this number, but circumstances 

 render it necessary to defer them till next month. 

 We wished to speak of the Horticultural Exhi- 

 bion somewhat in detail, but have no space for 

 that purpose. 



HoRTicuLRURAL EXHIBITION. — The "Hor- 

 ticultural Society of the Valley of the Genesee" 

 held an Exhibition in the City Hall, Rochester, 

 on the 23d of June. The display of Roses and 

 other flowers was brilliant. Fine collections of 

 strawberries were exhibited by the President 

 and others, — and our friends, Donnellan, Mul- 

 holland, and others, exhibited some of the finest 

 cucumbers, green peas, radishes onions, and 

 other vegetables, that we have seen at this season. 

 The reports of the Committees have not yet 

 appeared. 



Propagation by Layers. 



In reply to the numerous inquiries in relation 

 to the process of layering, we subjoin the foUow- 

 extract from the "Ladies Companion to the 

 Flower Garden," which explains and illustrates 

 the matter in a manner that cannot fail to be un- 

 derstood. The season is now upon us for per- 

 forming the operation, and will continue through 

 this and next month. 



Layering is a mode of propagating used both in the case 

 of hgneous and herbaceous plants, and the operation is per- 

 formed by choosing a young shoot of the current or the pre- 

 teding year, bending it down to the ground, and covering a 

 portion of it near the extremity of the shoot with an inch or 

 more of soil, previously fixing it there with a hooked stick, 

 {n general, layers of woody plants made in autumn maybe 

 taken off about the same season the following year; but 

 «ome trees and shrubs, such as Magnolias, the tree Ivy, &c.. 

 require to remain on the tree for two years. Roses layered 

 in the summer season with shoots of the same year's growth 

 may be taken ortthe following spring ; but the general prac- 

 tice is to layer them in autumn or winter, and allow the lay- 

 ers to remain on the plants for a year. Layers of herbace- 

 ous plants, such as Carnations, Pinks, Double Sweet*Wil- 

 liams, and Chrysanthemums, made in the beginning of sum- 

 mer, will have made roots by the autumn ; and the layers 

 of Chrysanthemums so rooted will flower the winter of the 

 fjMne year. To facilitate the rooting of all layers, VThether 

 ll|neou8 or herbaceous a notch or slit is made in that part 

 of the Bhoot which is buried in the soil ; or it is twisted, 

 lind a portion of the bark taken off, or it is in some other 



way wounded, bruised, or injured, so as to check the return 

 of the sap by the bark, when the sap accumulating at the 

 upper lip of ihc wound forms a callosity there of granulated 

 matter, from which roots are soon after emitted. In laying 

 herbaceous plants, and more especially Carnations, the slit 

 is made on the under side of the shoot, and in the case of 

 woody plants on the upper side.* In both cases, the knife 

 is entered immediately below a bud or joint ; roots being 

 always more freely protruded at the joints of plants, than in 

 the intervals between them. The cut is generally made 

 half through the shoot, and coiilinuod up half an inc'u or an 

 inch, and to keep it 

 open a small splinter 

 of wood, or a small 

 flat stone, or a piece 

 of slate, or a potsherd 

 is put in between the 

 divided parts to irri- 

 tate the wound and 

 cause it to protrude 

 granulous matter. — 

 ( See fig. 36. ) In 

 layering herbaceous 

 plants, it was former- 

 ly the custom to shor- 

 ten the leaves re- 

 maining on the lay- 

 er, but in modern 

 - f ^ ,. practice this is con- 



Fig. 3b. Layer oj a Carnation. ^ gije^gj unnecessary, 

 and even injurious, by lessening the powers of the leaves 

 to elaborate the sap. The leaves are always stripped off 

 that part of the layer which is buried in the soil ; as shown 

 in the layer of a Pe- 

 tunia, (fig. 37.) In 

 layering some woody 

 plants, such as cer- 

 tain kinds of Roses, 

 Tree Peonies, &:c., 

 the entire shoot is 

 laid down, and the 

 knife entered imme- 

 diately below each 

 eye; and, the wound 

 being kept open by 

 splinters of wood or 

 stones, the whole/ 

 shoot is covered with 

 earth to the depth of 

 half an inch or an 

 inch, according as the 



soil is sandy or loamy, x^. ,„ , ,. „ • 



and a shoot is after- Fig. 37. Lai/er oj a P.timia. 

 wards sent up from each eye, so that a shoot thus laid down 

 produces nearly as many plants as it has buds. 



This practice is much more successful with some kinds 

 of shrubs and trees than with others, and it is not at all 

 applicable to herbaceous plants. Some shrubs, such as 

 the Honeysuckle, Tecoma, Wistaria, &c., which produce 

 long shoots, and continue growing throughout the summer, 

 may be pegged down as they grow, and a slit made behind 

 each bod, or every other bud, covering the joint so treated, 

 with soil. A great many plants are thus produced from a 

 single shoot in one season, more especially in moist, warm 

 summers, or in a warm situation, w here water is applied ar- 

 tificially. Layers of every description root most freely in 

 sandy soil, in an open airy situation ; and those which are 

 ditficult to root succeed best where the soil is almost a pure 

 sand. The layering of Carnations is an operation particu- 

 larly suitable for ladies, more especially when the plants 

 are in pots, as they can be placed on a table or bench, and 

 there will be no occasion for stooping. 



* We consider it preferable in all cases to make the slit on. 

 the Juider sid e. — Eu. 



MARRIED, 



In this city, on the 24th ult., by the Rev. Wm. O'RiLF.y, 

 Mr. PATRICK BARRY to Miss HARRIET HUESTIS. 



[D= The Editor of this Department, as will be seen by 

 the above, has recently been engaged in preparing for the 

 press a very useful and ornamental work. Wc presume 

 our numerous readers will unite with us in congratulating 

 him upon an occasion so important and auspicious — wishing 

 him happiness and prosperity, and beautiful and abundani^ 

 FRViTS as the reward of his laudable enterprise. — Pbb. 



