230 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT 



apart. It is also necessary to observe that all 

 buds, including that at b, should be rubbed off 

 or cut out before the shoot is laid down. 

 When a shoot is cut a little above a joint or 

 bud, the divided part is apt to die up to the 

 next joint; but when cut immediately below 

 the joint, the heel usually keeps alive to the 

 joint situated at its extremity. Instead of the 

 tongue or heel being formed on the under side 

 of the branch, it is sometimes made on the 

 upper side. The branch is then twisted, so 

 that the tongue may be placed in a perpendicu- 

 lar position and in a downward direction. In 

 other cases it is cut on either side of the branch, 

 but in general it is preferable to make an inci- 

 sion on the under side, unless the shoot is of a 

 brittle nature, and may bend when cut on the 

 upper side with less danger of breaking. 



5. Strangulation or Wiring.- — If a wire is 

 twisted tightly round a branch, the ascending 

 sap will flow along the vessels of the alburnum, 

 but the returning sap, descending by the inner 

 bark, will be checked. Woody layers continue 

 to be formed so long as the outside bark admits 

 of being compressed; but by degrees the portion 

 of it within the ring becomes hard and so com- 

 pact as to prevent the return of the sap below 

 the ring, and of course the further deposition of 

 woody layers. An accumulation of the return- 

 ing sap then takes place above the wire. Ex- 

 posed to the drying influence of the air, roots 

 do not readily break out in consequence of this 

 accumulation; but an increased deposition of 

 woody matter is indicated by the swelling of 

 the branch to a much greater thickness im- 

 mediately above the wire than below it. When, 

 however, the part around which the wire is 

 twisted is laid in the earth, the accumulated 

 sap tends to form roots, and to encourage their 

 breaking out the part above the ring is some- 

 times cut with a sharp knife in various places 

 quite through the inner bark. 



6. Kinging. — This mode is represented in Fig. 

 294, where e is a- hooked peg, the use of which 

 is obvious ; /, a portion of the branch from which 

 a ring of bark has been removed; g, a stick, to 

 which the extremity of the shoot h is trained. 

 The ring at / should be taken off quite through 

 the inner bark, otherwise the returning sap 

 would pass by it to the stem, and thus the object 

 of ringing, to interrupt it, would be defeated. 



7. Serpentine Layering. — This mode is very 

 applicable to the Vine, Wistaria, Clematis, La- 

 pageria, and other plants that make long running 

 shoots. It is represented by Fig. 295. The 

 shoot a is layered at every 2 feet, or less, 



according to the nature of the plant, its pliability, 

 and the situation of the buds. Each curve above- 

 ground, d, d, must be furnished with a bud or 

 buds, whilst from the portion below-ground, 

 held down by pegs b, b, b, the buds may be 



Fig. 295.— Serpentine Layering. 



rubbed or cut off. The extremity c is supported 

 by a stick, and when the shoot is sufficiently 

 rooted at the different parts laid, it is cut as 

 represented by the dotted lines e, e, e. When 

 this mode of propagation is adopted in summer 

 with a growing shoot, the latter must be layered 

 as it proceeds in growth, and the leaves on the 

 part above-ground should be preserved and 

 encouraged; consequently, the shoot will have 

 to be laid shallow, and the curves to be but 

 slight. Sometimes, pressing the root at its joint 

 the depth of its thickness in the soil, and then 

 laying small stones upon it, will be sufficient. 



Lapageria is propagated by burying the whole 

 of the strongest stems under a thin layer of 

 sandy peat so placed as, whilst it covers the 

 stems, a portion of the leaves is exposed to the 

 light. The axillary buds will in time start 

 into growth; these are trained up stakes, and 

 when about a year old they are partially severed 

 from the mother stem. As soon as roots are 

 formed, the young stems may be transferred to 

 pots. Many climbing and trailing plants can 

 be propagated in this way. 



8. Layering by Insertion of the Growing Point. — 

 Many plants will produce roots in surprising 

 abundance by merely inserting the growing 

 point of the branches in the soil, for instance, 

 the Rubus, Gooseberry, Currant. Although 

 not often practised, this mode of propagation 

 deserves notice, for it can easily be tried, and 

 doubtless will often be found successful in the 

 case of many kinds of plants that are difficult 

 to propagate by other means. 



9. Circumposition is an old term for a mode 

 of propagation employed in cases where the 

 branch is far from the ground, or when, from 

 stiffness, brittleness, or other circumstances, it 

 cannot be bent down. Whilst the branch, for 

 any of these reasons, retains its position, some 



