104 



GARDENING FOE, THE SOUTH. 



Where it is difficult to get the shoot to be layered down 

 to the soil, a portion of the soil may be raised to the plant, 

 as the Chinese gardeners practice in a pot, the earth in 

 which should be kept steadily moist. 



Another mode of layering is by insertion of the grow- 

 ing point in the soil. When the shoots of a raspberry or 

 gooseberry are of some length and firmness, if the grow- 

 ing points are inserted in well-dug soil, they will form a 

 nice bundle of roots and a good bud ready for transplant- 

 ing in autumn. This is worthy of trial with many other 

 plants. 



The grape is best layered by digging a trench and lay- 

 ing therein a thrifty cane in the spring ; let remain until 

 young shoots, three or four inches long, are formed ; then 

 gently draw a little of the soil into the trench covering 

 the parent-cane, and as the shoots increase in strength, 

 fill up the trench, and each young shoot will make a fine 

 plant by autumn. 



In general, the best season for layering is before the sap 

 begins to rise in the spring, or from the last of June, dur- 

 ing summer on wood of the same season's growth. A 

 good time for roses is after the first bloom is over. Lay- 

 ered at this time, they will generally be fit to take up the 

 ensuing winter, but most plants require twelve months, 

 and some two years, before they will root. In nurseries 

 the ground is prepared around each stool by digging and 

 manuring, and the branches laid down neatly, so as to 

 form a circle of rays around the stool, with the ends ris- 

 ing all around the circle to about the same height. 



Cuttings. — A cutting is a part of a plant detached from 

 the parent-stock, which, placed in proper conditions, will 

 emit roots and become in its turn a new plant. It may be 

 a portion of the stem, the branches, or the root, and some- 

 times even a leaf. 



In a cutting, as in a growing plant, two forces are in 

 constant activity, those of absorption and of evaporation. 



