68 



GENEEAL PEDTCIPLES. 



Section 2. — Propagation by Layering. 



A lajer is similar to a cutting, except that it is allowed 

 to remain in jDartial connection with the parent plant 

 until it has emitted roots. On this account, layers are 

 much more certain than cuttings. It is the best method 

 of propagating the grai^e and the gooseberry^ and also 

 the quince^ paradise^ and Doucain^ for stocks. It may be 

 performed in the spring with shoots of the previous 

 year's growth, before vegetation has commenced, or in 

 July and August on wood of the same season's growth. 

 The ordinary mode of doing it is, first, to spade over and 

 prepare the groimd in which the branch is to be laid, in 

 order to make it light and friable. The branch is then 

 brought down to the ground (fig. 61), an incision is made 

 at the base of bud A^ through the bark, and 

 partly through the wood ; the knife is drawn 

 upward, splitting the shoot an inch or two in 

 length, and the branch is laid in the earth with 

 the cut open, and kept doT\m 

 by means of a crooked or hooked 

 wooden peg, B. The earth is then 

 drawn in smoothly around, cov- 

 ering it two or three inches 

 deejD; and the end of the 

 shoot that is above ground, is 

 tied up to a stick ((7), if it re- 

 quires support. In the grape^ 

 gooseberry^ or currant^ a sim23le 

 notch below a bud is suflScient, 

 and they will root if simply pegged down ; but roots are 

 formed more rapidly when the shoot is cut one third 

 through, and slit as described. 



A long shoot of the vine may be layered at several 

 points, and thus produce several rooted plants in the 



Fig. 61. 



Fig. 61, a common layer. A, the 

 incision. £, hooked peg. C, 

 stake. 



