194 THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 



Mrs. B. Several fig-trees in the East Indies grow and 

 propagate in the same manner. The ancients sometimes 

 twisted the branch at the spot where they wished a root 

 to strike : to this process we have substituted the more 

 gentle mode of strangulation by ligatures, which injures 

 the branch less, and yet arrests the cambium sufficiently 

 to produce an accumulation. 



Another mode of making layers consists in slitting the 

 branch from the bottom upwards, and drawing the por- 

 tion slit on one side, so as to form the figure of a Y re- 

 versed, the branches being of unequal length. The por- 

 tion of the cambium which descends into the slit, finding 

 no vent, accumulates and strikes root. 



Emily. I have seen the gardener propagate the Mag- 

 nolia, and other rare and delicate plants, by gently bend- 

 ing some of their most pliant branches to the ground, and 

 covering every part of them with earth excepting their 

 extremities ; by this means a considerable number of lay- 

 ers may be obtained at a time. 



Mrs. B. Layers are also sometimes made completely 

 above ground, though, it is true, this cannot be done with- 

 out the aid of the soil ; for it is necessary that the branch 

 should be surrounded with moist earth, which may be 

 contained either in a flower-pot or a small basket, having 

 an opening sufficiently large to admit of the branch pass- 

 ing through it. 



Caroline. The germs then strike root in this soil. I 

 have seen the Oleander propagated this way. 



Mrs. B. M. Humboldt, the celebrated naturalist, 

 when travelling in America, provided himself with strips 

 of coarse pitched cloth, which he substituted in the place 

 of a basket, to confine the earth round branches from 

 which he wished to make layers. He adjusted them round 

 the branches of trees, in forests through which he inten- 

 ded to return some months afterwards when the roots would 

 have shot out ; and by this means he brought over to Eu- 

 rope a number of very curious and valuable new plants, 

 which have not only enriched our botanical gardens, but 

 have been generally disseminated both for use and orna- 

 ment. ____ 



1063. What is said of the propagation of fig-trees'? 1064. What 

 is the mode of making layers, by slitting the branch'? 1065. How ia 

 the magnolia propagated! 1066. How can layers be made completely 

 above ground'? 1067 .What is related of Humboldtl 



