66 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



those of the old olive trees, and like them might be used 

 for the propagation of the variety ; a similar condition, 

 no doubt, exists in the roots, whence the tendency to 

 sucker. The common Morello cherry ; the Damson ; the 

 Chickasas, and other varieties of plum; the blackberry, 

 and many raspberries, are multiplied almost exclusively in 

 a similar manner. 



LAYERS are portions of the branches of a plant that 

 have been induced to throw out roots, and which can thus 

 set up an independent existence if removed from the parent 

 tree. This mode of propagation is a very natural one, 

 and was probably an accidental discovery. In its traits, 

 it is the reverse of the mode we have just been consider- 

 ing. Here the branch emits roots, instead of the root 

 emitting branches, as in the case of the sucker. Layering 

 is frequently resorted to as a mode of propagation, it is 

 very simple, easily performed, and, with some species, very 

 certain in its results. Some plants will root readily if 

 merely placed in contact with the ground, or very slightly 

 covered with soil ; others require some artificial interfer- 

 ence, such as ringing, or twisting, or slitting. The rasp- 

 berry, known as the Rubus occidentalis, or Black-cap, be- 

 longs to the first class, and it even places itself in contact 

 with the soil by recurving its branches so as to bring the 

 tips to the earth, where they strike root, and make new 

 plants. The grape conies under the second category, 

 needing only a little assistance, and it is multiplied to a 

 considerable extent in this manner. In the spring, the 

 vines are laid out in a little shallow trench, and pegged 

 down closely ; as the buds burst, they throw .up shoots 

 which are trained vertically by tying them to sticks, and 



