118 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



inches below the cut, keeping, at the same time, the top 

 of the shoot some three or four inches out of the ground, 

 and making it fast to a small stake, to keep it upright. 

 Care should be taken not to make the angle where the 

 branch is pegged at the cut, as the branch Avould be in- 

 jured and perhaps broken off; the best place is about two 

 inches below the incision. The soil can then be replaced 

 in the hole, and where it is convenient covered with some 

 moss or litter of any kind. This will protect the soil 

 from the sun and keep it moist, and will materially aid 

 the formation of new roots. These are formed in the same 

 manner as in cuttings ; first a callus is produced on those 

 parts of the incision where the bark joins the wood, and 

 from this callus spring the roots, which, in some cases, 

 will have grown sufficiently for the layers to be taken 

 from the parent plant the latter part of the following au- 

 tumn ; in some cases, however, the roots will not have 

 sufficiently formed to allow them to be taken up before 

 another year. The summer is the best period for layering 

 the young shoots. Early in the sjDring, layers can be 

 made with the wood formed the previous year. Where 

 it is more convenient, a shoot can be rooted by making 

 the incision as above, and introducing it into a quart pot 

 with the bottom partly broken out. This pot can be 

 plunged in the ground, or if the branch is from a stand- 

 ard, it can be raised on a rough platform. In either case, 

 it should be covered with moss, to protect it from the sun, 

 and should be watered every evening. We recollect see- 

 ing in the glass manufactories of Paris, a very neat little 

 glass tumbler, used by the French gardeners for this pur- 

 pose. It held, perhaps, half a pint, and a space about 

 half an inch wide was cut out through the whole length 

 of the side, through which space the branch of any plant 

 was inserted, and the tumbler then filled with soil. When 

 the roots were formed and began to penetrate the soil, 

 they could be easily perceived through the glass. Al- 



