38 THE FOREST TREE CULTURIST. 
buried nm the soil. The incision is made in the branch 
before bending it down, and the knife inserted just below 
a bud, passing into the wood, and then an inch or more 
lengthwise, the branch forming what is termed a tongue— 
see fig. 4, a. A hooked peg is usually employed to hold 
the layer in its place, as it is important that it should be 
held firm, so that it may not be swayed about by the wind. 
Layers may be made at almost any time, but they will 
root sooner if made in early or mid-summer than if made 
earlier or later. But as they should not be separated from 
the parent plant until the wood is ripe in the fall, or the 
leaves have fallen, if from deciduous trees, it is well to 
make them in spring as soon as the trees have put forth 
their leaves, so that they shall have sufficient time to be 
come well rooted by fall. 
Evergreen trees should be layered while the trees are in 
full growth, and not before or after. It will sometimes 
require two seasons for layers of some trees to become 
sufficiently rooted to be separated ; it is therefore necessary 
to carefully examine those that emit roots tardily before 
separating them. Some kinds of trees will produce roots 
when layered without cutting the branch—in fact, all will 
in time; but the surest way is to expose the alburnum to 
the soil. Sometimes a part of a tree, or a small branch 
thereof, will vary from the original; when this occurs 
on a large tree, and where the branch can not be made 
to reach the ground, we must elevate the soil or some sim- 
ilar material to the part that we wish to propagate, un- 
less it be a variety which can be readily prapagaved from 
cuttings, bads, or grafting. 
