172 CULTURE OP THE ROSE. 



in the hole, and pegged down at a point some two inches below 

 the cut, keeping, at the same time, the top of the shoot some three 

 or four inches out of the ground, and making it fast to a small 

 stake, to keep it upright. Care should be taken not to make the 

 angle where the branch is pegged, at the cut, as the branch would 

 be injured and perhaps broken off; the best place is about two 

 inches below the incision. The soil can then be replaced in the 

 hole, and where it is convenient covered with some moss or litter 

 of any kind. This will protect, the soil from the sun and keep 

 it moist, and will materially aid the formation of new roots. 

 These are formed in the same manner as in cuttings; first a 

 callus is produced on those parts of the incision where the bark 

 joins the wood, and from this callus spring the roots, which, in 

 some cases, will have grown sufficiently to be taken from the 

 parent plant the latter part of the following autumn ; in some 

 cases, however, the roots will not have sufficiently formed to allow 

 them to be taken up before another year. The summer is the 

 best period for laying the young shoots. Early in the spring, 

 layers can be made with the wood formed the previous year. 

 Where it is more convenient, a shoot can be rooted by making the 

 incision as above, and introducing it into a quart pot with the 

 bottom partly broken out. This pot can be plunged in the 

 ground, or if the branch is from a standard, it can be raised on a 

 rough platform. In either case, it should be covered with moss 

 to protect it from the sun, and should be watered every evening. 

 We recollect seeing in the glass manufactories of Paris, a very 

 neat little glass tumbler, used by the French gardeners for this 

 purpose. It held, perhaps, half a pint, and a space about half an 

 inch wide was cut out through the whole length of the side, 

 through which space the branch of any plant was inserted, and 

 the tumbler then filled with soil. When the roots were formed 

 and began to penetrate the soil, they could be easily perceived 

 through the glass. Although an incision is always the most 

 certain, and it is uniformly practised, roots will in many varie- 

 ties strike easily from the buds; and a common operation in 

 France is, simply to peg down the branches in the soil, without 



