BUDDING AND LAYERING 



59 



decayed should be loosened or removed altogether. Pig. 128 shows 

 the bud inserted halfway in the slit, and fig. 129 shows it completely 

 inserted and securely tied. 



About November the budded shoot will have grown a good deal, and 

 should be cut back to within 5 or 6 inches of the insertion of the bud ; 

 in the following March or April the shoot may be still further shortened 

 back close to the bud itself before growth commences. 



Where much budding is done, care must be taken to keep the buds 

 from being dried up by the sun and air. A good 

 plan is to have them in a jar or water-pot with 

 some wet moss to keep them fresh. 



Budding is often performed later in the season 

 than August, with the object of keeping the bud 

 from shooting until the following spring. It is 

 also done in spring just at the beginning of growth, 

 but the same principles underlie the operation no 

 matter when performed. Sometimes a dormant 

 fruit-bud as shown in figs. 130, 131 is inserted in autumn, and is said 

 to produce larger and finer fruits than the other fruit-buds. 



5. Propagation by Layering 



This operation is extensively practised to increase trees and shrubs, 

 and perennial herbaceous plants which cannot be so readily pro- 

 pagated by other means. It con- 

 sists in bending down to the soil 

 a branch and fixing it by a peg 

 (as shown in figs. 132 and 138), 

 and covering it with a mound of 

 earth (represented by the dotted 



EiG. 130. riG. 131. 



EIG. 132. — LATEEING HEEBAOEOnS STEMS. 



PIG. 138. — LAYERING WOODY STEMS. 



lines) until such a time as it has developed roots of its ovra, the 

 layer in the meantime being fed by the parent plant. 



Very often the branch layered is cut halfway through lengthwise at 

 the part to be placed in the soil, and a tongue or heel is formed, as 

 shown near the pegs in the illustrations. The cut is kept open by the 



