Jan.] THE NURSERY. ( ;j 



principally deciduous, with stems one, two, or three inches thick, 

 be cut down near the ground a year or two before to form stools 

 to furnish a supply of shoots near the earth, convenient For laying 

 therein. The ground must be dug about the shrub or tree thai is 

 to be layed; and as you go on bring down the branches, and fasten 

 them in the ground with hooked pegs, observing to lay down all 

 the young wood on each branch into the earth, covering therewith 

 the body of each layer three or four inches deep, and fastening 

 each also with a peg if necessary, and raise the tops upright out of 

 the earth. 



But in laying some hard-wooded trees and shrubs it is necessary 

 to slit the layer by making a gash with a knife on the under-side, 

 slitting it an inch or more upward, so laying that part in the earth, 

 keeping the gash a little open, which will greatly assist the rooting 

 by promoting the emission of fibres at the cut part. And this may 

 also be performed to the same advantage in the laying of trees and 

 shrubs in general. Or you may give the young shoot a twist in 

 that part which you intend laying in the earth, by which method it 

 will root more freely than if laid down without it. 



Those which are layed in this or next month will be tolerably 

 well rooted by next autumn, and may then be separated from the 

 tree, and planted in the nursery to get strength. 



Cuttings of many kinds of flowering shrubs and trees may also 

 still be planted; and there are vast numbers of plants that may bo 

 propagated by this method. There is hardly any tree or shrub but 

 what may be increased either by this method, or by layers or 

 suckers from the root. 



But the manner of propagating trees or shrubs by cuttings is 

 this: the cuttings must be young shoots of the last year's growth, 

 which must be cut with a sharp knife from the tree or shrub you 

 desire to propagate; they must be from about six or eight to twelve 

 or fifteen inches long, according to their strength and manner of 

 growth; let them be planted in rows eighteen inches asunder, and 

 from five to eight inches distance in the row, and every cutting- 

 inserted two thirds of its length into the ground. 



Propagate gooseberries and currants by cuttings, as directed in 

 October; and prune such of the old plants as require it, agreeablj 

 to the directions given in this and that month. 



In open weather, you should, as much as possible, forward the 

 digging and trenching vacant compartments of ground, where 

 young trees and shrubs are to be planted in this and next month. 



Now prepare some ground where it is not wet, for the reception 

 of stones and kernels of hardy fruits, to raise a supply of stocks for 

 the purpose of budding and grafting upon. 



These maybe sown any time this month, observing to sow them 

 in beds four feet wide; cover the stones an inch and a half deep 

 with earth, and the kernels half an inch: the plants will appear in 

 March, April, and May, when they must be kept clean from weeds, 

 and moderate watering in dry weather will be serviceable when 

 they are newly come up. Some of them will be fit for transplant- 

 ing in nursery rows next November. 



