42 



LAYERAGE. 



^o. Compound layering-pot . 



one side, with which to hang it on a support. A cup or 

 pot with a removable side is also used. This is shown 

 open in Fig. 38 and closed in Fig. 

 39. An ingenious compound 

 layering-pot is shown in Fig. 40. 

 The main stem or trunk of the 

 plant is carried through the large 

 opening, and the branches are 

 taken through the smaller pots 

 at the side. Kier's layering-boxes 

 or racks are shown in Figs. 41 

 and 42. The trays are filled with 

 earth or moss, and the branches are laid in through the 

 chinks in the border and are treated in the same manner 

 as ordinary outdoor layers. These 

 racks supply a neat and convenient 

 means of increasing greenhouse 

 plants which do not readily strike 

 from cuttings. 



It is well to bear in mind that when 

 layers do not give strong plants, they 

 can be divided into portions, each 

 bearing a bit of root, and treated as 

 ordinary cutdngs. This is an im- 

 portant operation in the case of rare 

 varieties which are multiplied by 

 means of soft or green layers, as 

 some of the large-flowered clematises and new varieties 

 of grapes. The small, weak plants are handled in a cool 

 greenhouse or under frames, usually in pots, and they soon 

 make strong specimens. 



From what has now been said of layerage, the reader 

 will perceive that it may be employed either for the out- 

 right production of new plants, or as a means of starting 

 or "striking" plants. In the latter case, the layer plants, 

 after having been separated from the parent plant, are set 

 in nursery rows and there grown for one season ; and in 



41. Kiev's layering-rack 



