AND THEIR CULTURE 



eriiig is a simple and easy process. It consists in 

 bending the branch down to the earth, and fixing it 

 with a hooked peg of wood at any place where there 

 is an eye, as it is technically termed ; that is, 

 wherever a twig springs out from the main branch. 



If there are several of these twigs here and there 

 on the branch, it may be pegged into the earth as 

 often as they occur, according to the distance at 

 which we wish the plants that grow from them to 

 stand from one another. At the end of two years 

 after layering, several shoots of a considerable length 

 will have arisen from each eye. Some of these 

 may then be laid down in their turn, and by pro- 

 ceeding thus, as often as an opportunity occurs, acres 

 of land may in time be planted, if that is necessary, 

 from one original stool. If the branch to be laid is 

 very strong, it may be saved from the danger of 

 breaking, by cutting it half through, near the root, 

 and then splitting it up, for the space of a foot or 

 more. This will render it less stubborn to bend, 

 and consequently diminish the risk of fracture. 

 The surface of the ground should be pared off at 

 the place where the branch is to be pegged down, 

 and the earth slackened. As much of the branches 

 as touches the soil must be covered with mould, at 

 least three inches thick, and well pressed down 



