LAYERS 
65 
they are not on their own roots. Layering is, of course, 
slower and more laborious than grafting, otherwise many 
more garden Rhododendrons would be propagated by the 
former method. Habit is second nature ; it has become 
the general practice to graft Rhododendrons, and we keep 
on doing it because that is the recognised way, and not 
because it is the best way, assuming that the welfare of the 
plant is a first consideration. 
Rhododendrons, as a rule, are easy to layer, the younger 
branches being thin, pliant, and horizontal, so that it is 
not difficult to peg them down. Even large branches, 
several years old, may be taken. They should be partly cut 
through and split in the way that other layered shrubs are 
treated, and when they have been pegged firmly, and the 
soil placed about the fixed-down portion, nothing more is 
needed until the layers are well rooted, which usually takes 
about two years, when they may be cut away from the 
parent stock, to start on an independent existence. Layer- 
ing is also practised for select varieties of hardy Azaleas, 
although it has become general with growers of these plants 
to resort to grafting, the stocks used being seedling Ghent 
Azaleas. In this case grafting is less likely to affect un- 
favourably the age of the plant than when a stock of a 
different species is used. All the same, layering is to be re- 
commended for the hardy Azaleas, and indeed for all the 
smaller Rhododendrons of which seeds are not available or 
cuttings not to be relied upon. 
CUTTINGS 
Except for the purpose of raising stocks on which to graft 
Rhododendron indicum, and for the multiplication of the Java 
race, cuttings are rarely resorted to for purposes of propaga- 
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