42 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



as integral parts of the old plant and go on for another season. 

 We can easily see how the necessity for taking cuttings in the 

 ordinary way is obviated, and how very seldom propagators have 

 occasion to resort to it. 



How TO LAYER 



Let us now refer to and make clear the actual process. We 

 have a bed of plants which has been hoed and kept clear from weeds. 

 The growths are plentiful, healthy, and 

 vigorous. We furnish ourselves with a sharp 

 knife (a budding knife is the most con- 

 venient) and a quantity of layering pins, 

 which are like plain hair-pins, made of gal- 

 vanised wire. Also, a goodly supply of pre- 

 pared soil is provided, and this should be in 

 equal proportions of loam, leaf -mould, and 

 sand. These form the whole of the equip- 

 ment, excepting a trowel. Scrape away the 

 loose top soil from around the base of each 

 plant and replace it with an equal depth 

 (i inch) of the prepared compost. Select 

 the longest growths first, those that when 

 laid down will extend the farthest from the 

 plant ; remove a few pairs of the lower 

 leaves, not pulling them but cutting them 



close off with your knife ; then, at the 

 FIG. 12. A Layer . 



most convenient spot, cut into the centre 



of the wood and pass your knife upward through a joint, after 

 which arrange them at regular intervals to form a circle and peg 

 down firmly into the prepared compost. Cover the denuded 

 portions of the layers with an inch or two of the same compost 

 and see that it is pressed firmly down ; then, if sufficient growths 

 remain, make another tier in the same way, or if but a few, dispose 

 them to the best advantage so that a mound will be formed in which 

 every layer is given equal chance. Our Illustration (Fig. 12) clearly 

 depicts the cut or " tongue," and also the method of pegging down 

 the layer. Very little practice is needed to make the veriest tyro 

 efficient in this simple operation. 



