ON THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 87 



ground about the mother plant ; the young shoots are then 

 prepared, by bending them down to the ground, in order to 

 find the proper length required to be inserted ; a sharp knife 

 must be applied to the under part of the shoot at a joint, cut- 

 ting, in a slanting manner, upward, about half an inch in 

 length : the part is then inserted in the soil, from two to three 

 inches deep, in such a manner that the wound or cut a is left 

 open, and pressed perpendicularly into the ground : a hooked 



Fig. 1. Layering. 



stick b is then placed over the layer in order to keep it in a 

 proper position ; raise nearly upright the end of the layer c, 

 which remains above the surface of the ground. This should 

 be done to every layer, to prevent the wound from uniting, 

 being the part from whence the roots will be made for the 

 young plant. 



Carnations, Pinks, and such like plants, are chiefly in- 

 creased in this manner ; the proper season for laying these is 

 August and September. Many others, as the Sweet William 

 Pinks, and their natural family, may be laid by simply taking 

 out the centre of the plant, and placing a quantity of earth 

 sufficient to cover the side shoots, which will form a circle of 

 young plants in a few weeks. 



I) 



