PROPAGATION WITHOUT SEEDS 



thickness of the branch. Sometimes it is well to remove 

 a ring of outer bark entirely, all around the stem, but 

 this is not necessary except with plants which have 

 exceptionally thick and hard bark. 



Stool or mound layering requires a little longer 

 time as there must be due preparation for it. The 

 shrub from which new plants are to be propagated is 

 pruned back severely in the spring — headed in to noth- 

 ing but low, short stubs — to induce a free growth of 

 young and tender sprouts. When these strong young 

 shoots are well grown — usually by the middle of sum- 

 mer — a mound of earth is piled entirely over the old 

 plant and brought up some distance on the stems of the 

 young shoots. This induces them to root freely, and 

 by the succeeding spring they are ready to be dug up, 

 separated and planted as individuals. 



Tip layering is exactly what the name implies — the 

 laying down of a tip alone, which, bent to the earth, is 

 buried for a few inches. Branches which will not bend 

 enough to be forked down and turned back up, may 

 sometimes be rooted by tip layering. Three to four 

 inches is deep enough to cover stems in practically all 

 cases, whatever form is chosen for the work. 



Cuttings are very much like layers, but differ from 

 them in that they are separated from the parent plant 

 before any roots are formed, and the whole process of 

 root formation has therefore to be carried on indepen- 

 dently. For this reason they are not so simple an under- 

 taking for the amateur as layers; the latter can — in- 

 deed must — be left alone, while cuttings require care 



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