144 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



calloused. While they do not require as much shade as soft cuttings, 

 a little shade the first few weeks is beneficial. After they are well 

 calloused, however, they will not need any; after they are rooted 

 their treatment should be the same as that of other plants. Many 

 plants that are diflScult to propagate by cuttings and are wanted 

 on their otvh roots can be had by layers. This is probably the 

 surest way for an amateur, but it is slow. By layering, many 

 plants are obtained on their own roots which it would be impossible 

 to get in any other way. Layers are branches of trees or shrubs 

 either twisted or cut half way through and buried several inches 

 in the earth, but not detached until they are rooted. Clematis, 

 Magnolia, Rhododendrons, rose, maples, lindens, Halesia, quince, 

 and in fact almost any plant may be layered. Some root easily 

 in a few weeks and others take several years. Some plants, such 

 as Clematis, grape "vines and Wistaria, can be layered at every few 

 eyes as fast as they grow, but this kind of layering needs to have the 

 sap checked at every place. You put it in the ground either by 

 cutting half way through on the stem or twisting the branch so as 

 to check the flow of the sap. In most of the nurseries abroad, and 

 in some in our own country, layering is carried on to a great extent. 

 The part of the nursery devoted to layering is usually called the 

 stool ground. Here two plants or sometimes several are planted 

 in groups three, four or more feet apart, and layered every year or 

 every other year as the case may be. Young clean wood of the 

 previous year is usually considered the best; so the plant is grown 

 and pruned as to produce as much straight growth as possible; 

 they are then bent do^uTi, turned or twisted or not as the case may be 

 and covered up with soil, and if the growth is too rank, the tops are 

 pinched or pruned in order to regulate the sap. In the case of 

 choice plants these layers are kept well watered and cultivated. 

 It is not always necessary to have a stool ground for any branch 

 or vine can be brought down and the soil and conditions made good 

 around it and success is sure to follow. The INIagnolias, maples. 

 Rhododendrons, and other hard wooded plants usually have to 

 remain on the parent plant two years, while Clematis, grapes, roses, 

 and other quicker rooted plants are cut off from the parent plants in 

 the fall and heeled in until spring or planted in the nurseries. As 

 soon as the rooted plants are taken from the stools, a good dressing 



