INTRODUCTION. XXi 



into the soil will be advantageous. It is for this reason 

 that a good operator always takes care, that the lower 

 end of his cutting is pared down as close to the base of 

 a bud as may be practicable without actually destroying 

 any part of the bud itself; by this means the first 

 emitted roots, instead of having to find their way down- 

 wards between the bark and wood, strike at once into 

 the earth, and become a natural channel by which nu- 

 triment is conveyed into the general system of the 

 cutting. 



Laying is nothing but striking from cuttings that 

 are still allowed to maintain their connection with the 

 mother plant by means of a portion at least of their 

 stem. Where roots are emitted with great readiness, 

 simply bending a branch into the soil, leaving its point 

 above ground, is sufficient to ensure the success of 

 the operation ; but in cases of difficulty other expe- 

 dients are resorted to, all which will still be found to 

 have reference to the emission of roots by buds. One 

 common practice is, to head down the branch that is 

 laid into the earth ; this is to call into action the buds 

 below the incision, by stopping the general axis of deve- 

 lopment. Another method is to tongue the layer, that 

 is, to split the stem just up to the origin of a bud ; a 

 practice that has the effect of enabling the roots to be 

 emitted into the soil through the wound more readily 

 than if they had to pierce through the bark ; the resist- 

 ance offered to their passage through the bark is in 

 many cases so great as to compel them to continue to 

 make wood rather than to appear in the form that is 

 necessary for the success of the cultivator. 



Budding and Grafting are operations that equally 

 depend for their success upon the property that buds 

 possess of shooting roots downwards and stems upwards ; 

 but in these practices the roots strike between the bark 

 and wood of the stock, instead of into the earth, and form 



a 3 



