LAYERS 65 



they are not on their own roots. Layering is, of course, 

 slower and more laborious than grafting, otherwise many 

 more garden Rhododendrons would be propagated by the 

 former method. Habit is second nature ; it has become 

 the general practice to graft Rhododendrons, and we keep 

 on doing it because that is the recognised way, and not 

 because it is the best way, assuming that the welfare of the 

 plant is a first consideration. 



Rhododendrons, as a rule, are easy to layer, the younger 

 branches being thin, pliant, and horizontal, so that it is 

 not difficult to peg them down. Even large branches, 

 several years old, may be taken. They should be partly cut 

 through and split in the way that other layered shrubs are 

 treated, and when they have been pegged firmly, and the 

 soil placed about the fixed-down portion, nothing more is 

 needed until the layers are well rooted, which usually takes 

 about two years, when they may be cut away from the 

 parent stock, to start on an independent existence. Layer- 

 ing is also practised for select varieties of hardy Azaleas, 

 although it has become general with growers of these plants 

 to resort to grafting, the stocks used being seedling Ghent 

 Azaleas. In this case grafting is less likely to affect un- 

 favourably the age of the plant than when a stock of a 

 different species is used. All the same, layering is to be re- 

 commended for the hardy Azaleas, and indeed for all the 

 smaller Rhododendrons of which seeds are not available or 

 cuttings not to be relied upon. 



CUTTINGS 



Except for the purpose of raising stocks on which to graft 

 Rhododendron indicum, and for the multiplication of the Java 

 race, cuttings are rarely resorted to for purposes of propaga- 



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