THE GARDENER. 



47 



the roots nearly as usual; but if the communicatioa 

 along- the alburnum is interrupted by an acute bend, 

 twist, or incision, a callus will be formed, from which 

 by de^ees spongioles are emitted, and thus roots ul- 

 timately produced. 



The part of a shoot intended to form a layer should 

 be divested of leaves where it is to be covered with 

 the mould, and a slit should be made on the bent part, 

 or the branch should be twisted half round at the bend 

 so as to disarrange the woody tissue, or the bark 

 should be half or three-quarters. W//^6^<^. the shoot is 

 then fixed down by pegs or hooked sticks, cut down 

 to within an inch or so of the ground, and covered 

 with good mould, which must afterwards be kept tor 

 lerably moist. In general roots are emitted in a fe\\ 

 weeks, and by the end of a season young plants are 

 obtained quite fit for transplantation. Some plants 

 however require to be left for two years on the stools 

 before they are removed, and there are some which 

 can hardly be made to root at all in this manner. 



" Plants so situated as to render it impossible to 

 bend their branches to the ground may nevertheless 

 be layered by having their shoots introduced into a 

 pot or box of soil elevated to them, and supported in 

 a convenient position. This is a common practice 

 among the Chinese, who cause branches of trees to 

 root in this manner by partially ringing them, and co- 

 vering the parts so ringed with a ball of clay, which is 

 kept moist." 



For very tender-skinned plants, a tight hgature 

 above the joint will be suflScient, without the use of 

 the knife, to stop the descent of the sap. and so cause 

 that joint to organize roots, if it be laid at that place 

 in earth or moist moss (according to its habits), at a 

 depth proportioned to its bidk and texture. The 

 strawbeny and several other plants have so great a 

 disposition to produce roots at their numerous joints, 



