The Story-Book of the Fields 



The vine, with its long shoots so near the 

 ground, is well adapted for burying the 

 branches that are to take root, but with most 

 trees or shrubs the conditions are very 

 different. Their branches are neither long 

 nor flexible enough, nor are they sufficiently 

 near the ground to be placed in the trench. 

 This difficulty may be overcome in the 

 simplest fashion. We know that a stem, 

 cut down to the level of the ground will 

 develop at the edges of the wound numerous 

 adventitious shoots that will grow into 

 branches. These will be exactly the growths 

 that we need ; for they are long and flexible 

 and start from the level of the ground. Each 

 of them, treated as a layer, buried in a trench 

 where it is fastened by a hook, with its 

 extremity maintained in a vertical position 

 by means of a support, will take root sooner 

 or later, according to its species, and may 

 then be transplanted as an independent plant. 

 This method goes by the name of arching, as 

 the buried branch is bent into the form of an 

 arch. 



The following method dispenses with the 

 arching, which cannot be practised if the 

 wood is too brittle. The trunk that is to 

 provide the layers is cut down in the spring, 



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