PROPAGATION BY LAYERING. 



69 



course of one season. This is called serpentine layering 

 (fig. 62). The Quince, Paradise, and Doucain stocks, 

 where raised in large quantities, are propagated 

 in a different way from that described. The pro- 

 cess requires much less labor ; and where plants 

 root so freely 

 as they do, it 

 answers every 

 purpose. 



We will take 

 a plant of the 

 quince, for ex- 

 ample, and, in 



the spring, before growth commences, we cut it down 

 nearly to the ground, leaving four or five buds at its base 

 (A, fig. 63). During that season, a number of vigorous 

 shoots will be made. The following autumn or spring the 

 earth is drawn up around the base of the plant, so that 



the crown where it 



Fig. 03, Mound layering 

 which the mother plant 



the point 



was cut will be 

 covered, and, con- 

 sequently, the base 

 of all the shoots 

 for several inches 

 in height. Dur- 

 ing the next sum* 

 mer's growth every 

 branch is suffi- 

 ciently rooted to 

 be separated and 

 placed in nursery 



following 



spring. This is the 

 way to obtain strong stocks ; for the cutting back of the 

 mother plant produces very vigorous shoots the first 



