v.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 



163 



seed being good^ it should be well sown, well co- 

 vered, and carefully preserved from mice and other 

 vermin. 



276. CUTTINGS are short pieces, cut in the 

 spring, from shoots of the last year, and it is, in 

 most cases, best, if they have a joint or two of the 

 former yearns wood, at the bottom of them. The 

 cutting- should have altogether, about six joints, or 

 buds ; and three of these should be under ground 

 when planted. The cuts should be performed with 

 a sharp knife, so that there may be nothing ragged 

 or bruised about either wood or bark. The time 

 for taking off cuttings is that of the breaking up of 

 the frost. They should be planted in a shady place, 

 and watered with rain water, in dry weather, until 

 they have got shoots several inches long. When 

 they have such shoots they have roots, and when 

 they have these, no more watering is necessary. 

 Besides these occasional waterings, the ground 

 should, especially in hot countries, be covered with 

 leaves of trees, or muck, or something that will keep 

 the ground cool during the hot and dry weather. 



277. SLIPS differ from cuttings in this, that the 

 former are not cut, but pulled, from the tree. You 

 take a shoot of the last year, and pull it down- 

 wards, and thus slip it off. You trim the ragged 

 back off; then shorten the shoot so that it have six 

 joints left ; and then plant it and manage it in the 

 same manner as directed for cuttings. The season 

 for the work is also the same. 



278. LAYERS.— You take a limb, or branch of 

 a tree, in the fall, or early in Spring, and pull it 

 down in such a way as to cause its top, or small 

 shoots and twigs to lie upon the ground. Then 

 fasten the limb down by a peg or two, so that its 

 own force will not raise it up. Then prune off all 



