PROPAGATION BY LAYERS. 



624. Layering by insertion of the growing point. — Shoots of the bramble 

 will emit roots by the usual mode of twisting and pegging down ; but if the 

 growing point of the shoot is merely inserted in the soil to the depth of an 

 inch, an astonishing quantity of roots will be produced in the same season, 

 more, in fact, than in two years by the other mode. The gooseberry, the 

 Aristolochia, and the common nightshade, treated in the same way, succeed 

 equally well ; and doubtless many other species might in like manner be 

 easily and quickly propagated. 



625. Plum and Paradise stocks for fruit trees are raised in large quantities, 

 by a somewhat similar mode. The shoots of the stool are pegged down flat 

 on the surface, and covered entirely over, to the depth of half an inch, with 

 loamy soil. This is done early in spring, and in the course of the summer 

 every bud sends up a shoot which roots at its base, and at the end of autumn 

 is fit to be taken oflF as a separate plant. The tree peony is sometimes pro- 

 pagated in this manner, but with this difference, that a ring of bark is taken 

 off between each bud. A great many trees and shrubs might, doubtless, be 

 rapidly propagated by this mode. 



626. i^o^e^f, with the exception of the kinds of Indian origin, are generally pro- 

 pagated by layers, which in 

 the nurseries are made both 

 in spring and autumn, and 

 sometimes at both seasons, 

 on the same stool. The 

 shoots being brittle are 

 generally twisted, or slit 

 through, and the slit kept 

 open with a fragment of 

 stick or stone. When they 

 are tongued the tongue is 

 generally made on the up- 

 per side of the shoot, fig. 1 84, 

 which greatly lessens the 

 risk of breaking the shoot 

 when bending it down. 



627. Hardy herbaceous 

 plants seldom require to be propagated by layers, but the practice is occa- 

 sionally resorted to for the sake of gettmg stout plants in a shorter time 

 than by cuttings. The Petunia is frequently layered, fig. 186, and also 

 the Verbena, and even the Chrysanthemum ; and this is also the case 

 with the carnation, fig. 187, and with some other hybrids, or varieties 

 belongmg to the same genus. The shoots are chosen when of sufficient 

 length, which is generally when the plant is coming into flower, and the lower 

 leaves being cut off, the knife is entered beneath a joint, passed half through 

 the shoot, and continued half an inch or more upwards, kept open, if neces- 

 sary, by a splinter of wood, and pegged down and covered with sandy loam, 

 or sand and leaf mould. Some herbaceous plants which propagate readily 

 by cuttings are layered, as a mode requiring less care after the operation 

 is performed than cuttings, as well as being more certain of success. Some- 

 times a shoot separated from a plant is layered, the lower end of the shoot 

 being inserted in a vessel of water to supply it with moisture, while the 

 rooting process is taking place, as in fig. 188. 



Fig. 186. A petunia layered. 



