28 
PROPAGATION. 
as follows : about the last of October, take cuttings from the 
thrifty shoots of a bearing tree, cut out all the buds except two 
or three at the top, and pare off the bottom of the cutting just 
below a bud. Lay-in the cuttings in a sheltered border, bury- 
ing them so that only the two buds at the top are exposed, and 
covering them with some loose straw or litter. In the spring, 
make a small hot-bed with very sandy soil in which to plant 
the cuttings on taking them out of the ground, or place each 
one in a small pot in any hot-bed ready at hand, and in a few 
weeks they will be found to have made roots freely. 
As a general rule, cuttings succeed best when they are taken 
off just between the young and the previous year’s wood ; or, 
in the case of young side shoots, when they are cut off close to 
the branch preserving the collar of the shoot. The lower end 
should be cut smoothly across just below a bud, the soil should 
in all cases be pressed firmly about the lower end of the cutting, 
and it should always be planted before the buds commence 
swelling, that the wound may in some measure heal before 
growth and the absorption of fluid commences. 
Propagation by Layers and Suckers. 
A layer may be considered as a cutting not entirely separated 
from the plant. 
Layering is a mode of propagation resorted to in increasing 
some fruit tree stocks, as the Paradise stock, the Muscle Plum, 
and some kinds which do not grow so well from the seed. 
Certain varieties of native grape, as the Bland’s Virginia, which 
do not root readily by cuttings, are also raised in this way, and 
it may be applied to any sort of fruit tree wdiich it is desirable 
to continue on its own root without grafting. 
Fruit trees are generally layered in the spring, and the laj^ers 
may be taken off well-rooted plants in the autumn. But they 
may also be layered with success early in July. 
In making layers the ground around the mother plant should 
be made light and mellow by digging. Being provided with 
some hooked pegs to fast-’ 
en down the layers, bend 
down a branch, so that 
the end may recline upon 
the ground. Open a little 
trench three orfour inches 
deep to receive the young 
wood to be layered ; 
make a cut or tongue Fig. 
16 a, half way through the 
under side of the shoot, 
pegging down the branch 
with the hooked peg 6, to 
