44 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERS. 



than if left in one dense cluster. Nearly all plants which form 

 low-spreading clumps or masses of root-stocks may be divided 

 either by digging up the plants and pulling them into rooted 

 pieces, or by cutting off rooted portions around the sides of 

 the clumps. The scaly bulbs of many Lilies may be pulled to 

 pieces and planted separately, and most of them, when so 

 treated, will grow and form plants ; but the bulbs of Lilies are 

 in reality only underground stems, so that the Lily scales are 

 really leaf slips or cuttings just as Potato " sets " are stem- 

 cuttings although at first sight one would imagine that they 

 came under the head of division, using that term in its popular 

 and technical sense. Division, then, may be defined as the 

 removal of any naturally rooted portion from any kind of 

 plant, and is especially practicable in the case of low-growing 

 and spreading kinds. 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERS. 



This simple method of propagation is principally adopted in 

 the case of low-growing or slender plants which cannot readily 

 or conveniently be multiplied either by division, cuttings, or 

 seed. Lapageria rosea, L. alba, Chimonanthus fragrans, Aris- 

 tolochia sipho, and Magnolia grandiflora, are a few among 



Pegs for Layering. 



Layers. 



many instances in which layering is adopted as the best or 

 readiest method of artificial reproduction. The operation is 

 one of the simplest : A branch or stem of the plant or tree is 

 bent down, and pegged or otherwise fastened or held below the 

 soil, with its growing extremity above ihe ground. In some 

 cases, as in the Carnation, the stem is nicked or slit at a joint 



