Maintenance and Renewal. 



247 



half filled with compost ; then, the shoots are cii^t, so 

 as to leave only two eyes out of the ground. A stake 

 is driven beside each of these shoots ; the surplus earth 

 is left around the trench, which is only filled up at the 

 time of the first winter plowing next year. In this 

 manner, the shoots, being less deeply buried, take root 

 more easily. 



The stock chosen for provinage should belong to the 

 row on which the vacant space exists, and this in order 





[Fig. 96.] — Layered Plant. 



that a trench which would obstruct the action of the 

 plow may not may not be left across the interval be- 

 tween the rows. 



Layering is practiced late in the fall in dry soils, and 

 in the spring in clayey ones. In the fall following the 

 layering, and before the trenches are filled up, each of 

 the young plants should be loosened a little, and such 

 of their roots as are nearest to the surface should be cut 

 away so as to encourage them to live through those 

 which are deepest and least exposed to drought. 



