THE COMMON LAUREL. 33 



young wood started from, quite smooth, and dig in 

 with the spade in the following manner : — Dig a double 

 row of spits, make fine and firm, then cut a slightly 

 sloping trench with the spade across, say, a four-foot 

 bed, deep enough to admit of the cuttings being half- 

 wav in the ground when finished. Now set them in, 

 3 or 4 inches apart, against the bank, and dig a spit of 

 fine earth on to the cuttings, then tread it firmly on the 

 lower part of them, and proceed so as to have the rows 

 of cuttings 9 inches asunder from row to row. It may 

 be necessary to top the cuttings as they are made. They 

 will be fit to remove from the bed in which they are 

 struck in the second season, spring or autumn, when 

 they should be bedded out further apart. 



The Portugal Laurel may be raised from seed sown in 

 drills in a light sandy soil 3 inches deep. It may also 

 be propagated by layers. To do this conveniently, old 

 plants should be cut down close to the ground a year 

 or two beforehand, so as to get a good supply of suit- 

 able stuff. The layering consists in bending a branch 

 down, and burying one-third of the middle part of it 

 in the ground, first cutting a tongue on the under 

 side of each segment of the branch ; and when these 

 are brought upright at the points, the tongues will 

 spring out, from which roots are emitted — (see 

 Fig. 8.) 



The Commox Laurel. 



Scientifically the Bay is called Laurus, or Laurel — - 

 - which, however, has nothing to do with it. The Bay is 

 called Laurus nobilis, and has Lauraccce for its natural 

 order, while the common Laurel has Drupacece for its 

 natural order, and belongs to the Cherries. So that the 

 common Laurel is really an evergreen cherry — Cerasus 

 or Lauro-cerasus, or common Laurel Cherry. This is 

 confounding, scientifically speaking. 



The common Laurel is too well known to require any 

 description ; suffice it to say that it may be propagated 

 by layers, as for the Portugal Laurel, and also by seed 

 and cuttings. To prevent the Laurel from running to 



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