140 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



Rose or other shrub growing in the open ground who 

 has not other ways of propagation at command, when 

 this method may be safely adopted. 



Although layering may be done with the ripened wood 

 of vines or shrubs of the growth of the previous season, 

 yet it is preferable to use the shoot of the present year 

 in its half-green state ; for example, a Rose or flowering 

 shrub is pruned in the usual way in spring ; by June or 

 July it will have made strong shoots, one, two or three 

 feet in length from or near the base of the plant. Take 

 the shoot then in the left hand (after having stripped it 

 of its leaves for a few inches on each side of where it is 

 to be cut), keep the fingers under the shoot, and make a 

 clean cut on the upper part, an inch or so in length, and 

 to about half the thickness of the shoot, then slightly 

 twist the " tongue " or cut part to one side. Having 

 opened a shallow trench, fasten the branch down with a 

 hooked peg, and cover with earth. It is a good plan to 

 place a flat stone over the buried part of the layer, to pre- 

 vent the soil from drying out. 



This plan of cutting the shoot on the upper side, I have 

 never seen in illustrations showing the manner of layer- 

 ing, it being usually made either on the side or below ; but 

 I have found in practice, that it is much the safest plan, 

 as the " tongue," when cut on the top part of the shoot, 

 has far less chance of being broken off. 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERING IK POTS. 



This is the process of layering shoots or runners of 

 plants in pots, so that, when the root forms in the pot, 

 the plant can be detached without injury to it, as the 

 roots are confined exclusively to the soil in the pot. Lay- 

 ering plants in pots can be done with Roses, vines or 

 shrubs of any kind, with always more certainty of mak- 

 ing a plant quicker than by the ordinary way of layering 

 the shoot in the soil, because when lifted there is no dis- 



