PLANTS MULTIPLIED BY LAYERS, 



29 



in no case be placed deeper than an inch in tlie soil, and a 

 little fine and rich mould should be introduced to cover it 

 which will prevent it from becoming too wet. Unless the 

 slit in the stem is made to pass through the middle of a 

 joint, it will never succeed in forming roots. 



The lower part of the stems intended to be layered, 

 should be deprived of their leaves ; these must not be 

 plucked off, but cut with a sharp knife, to within a short 

 distance of the stem, and none of the leaves should be left 

 that would be buried in the soil when the shoot is fastened 

 down. Carnations should be layered as soon as the flower- 

 ing season is nearly over, and none of the stems which had 

 produced flowers should be employed for this purpose. 



Many other plants, such as double wallflowers, lilacs, 

 honeysuckles, roses, sweetbiiar, laui-els, and most shrubs 

 and evergreens, may be propagated by layers, it being a 

 very certain, as well as an easy mode of getting a number 

 of plants. In layering roses, however, and other plants 

 of shrubby habits, a different method must be adopted 

 to that of layering carnations, for with carnations, the 

 stems being exceedingly brittle, it is necessary to tongnz 

 them, in order to check the flow of the pulp ; but with 

 shrubby plants, such as roses and laurels, all that is re- 

 quired is to run a penknife through the shoot to be 

 layered, at a bud or joint, and having slightly twisted 

 the shoot, so as to open or crack the bark round the part 

 so cut, bury it about three inches below the surface of 

 the soil, securing it with a hooked peg, and treading the 

 soil slightly round it, so as to place it almost erect. In 

 this state it will soon form roots at the joint in which 

 the incision was made, and may then be separated from 

 the parent plant, and placed where required. 



From the roots of some trees which lie near the surface 

 of the soil, a quantity of young shoots are produced called 

 su<:}cers. These are generally very unsightly, and deprive 

 the tree of much of that nourishment which should be 

 devoted to the support of the flowers and fruit. They 

 should, therefore, never be allowed to remain in such 

 situations, even though they were destroyed : bat they are 

 all capable of forming a fresh plant, if taken up v>-ith care. 

 Thev are generally most abundant about the roots of 



D 2 



