11. PROPAGATING FROM CUTTINGS. It is not from seeds, alone, that plants may be increased. So great a simplicity prevails in the system of vegetation, that numerous tribes may he propagated from twigs or truncheons, cut out of the woody parts of the plants themselves, and stuck naked into the ground, without either root or branch upon them: the part placed in contact with the soil sends forth roots, while that which is exposed to the open air, throws out branches!

Bur altho' most of the aquatics, and many other genera of trees and shrubs, may be raised from CUTTINGS, planted in common earth and in the open air, there are others which require more care and greater helps. Some require a warm, others a cool border: some must be rooted in pots, others in stoves, or in the greenhouse. Again, some should be taken from the older branches, others from younger shoots: some require to be planted in autumn, others in the spring. These and other peculiarities of treatment will be specified, when we come to treat, separately, of each individual.

III. PROPAGATING FROM SUCKERS. There is a great similarity between the branches and the roots of plants. If the fibres of some VOL. I. C

species become exposed to the air, they quit their function of supplying the parent plant with nourishment, and, taking upon them the nature of seedlings, put forth leaves and branches. These rootling plants are called SUCKERS; and if they be slipt off from the parent root, and planted in a soil and situation suited to their respective natures, they will grow up, in the manner of seedling plants.

VARIOUS opinions are held, respecting the propriety of raising trees and shrubs from suckers: EVELYN and MILLER are against the practice; saying, that plants raised from suckers are more apt to send up suckers (which are troublesome intruders, especially in ornamental grounds) than those of the same species which have been raised from seeds. HANBURY, however, is of a contrary opinion: he says, "What might incline people to this notion was, that they have observed trees raised from seeds very long before they produced suckers: but they should consider, that no tree or plant will produce suckers, till it is of a suitable size or strength for the purpose, any more than animals can produce young before they are of proper age; and let them plant a seedling that is grown strong, a layer of the same strength, and one which has been raised from a sucker, exactly of the same size, and with the same number of fibres to the

root, and they will find that the seedling, or the layer, will not be behind-hand with the other in producing suckers, if they have all a like soil and situation; for it is peculiar to them to sport under the soil, in this manner; and Nature will ever act agreeably to herself, if not stopped in her progress by art." Nevertheless, in speaking of particular plants, we find him holding forth a different language.

IV. PROPAGATING BY LAYERING.As the roots of some plants, when exposed to the air, send forth shoots and branches, so the branches of others, when placed in contact with the earth, send out fibres and roots, which being severed from the parent plant, a separate tree is produced.

LAYERING being an operation by which a great majority of trees and shrubs may be propagated, and by which the many beautiful variegations are principally preserved, we shall here give some general directions for performing it; reserving, however, the minutiæ, peculiar to each species, until we come to treat of the individual species, separately.

LAYERS are bent, either from the stools of trees and shrubs, headed down to a few inches above

the surface of the ground, or from boughs, plashed so as to bend their tops to the ground; or from trees brought into a stooping posture, by excavating the soil on one side of them, until their heads are lowered into a similar situation.

STOOLS afford the simplest, and are the most common, supply of layers. Where a great number of layers are wanted, plants should be raised for the purpose, and planted in some well fenced ground, or in some vacant part of the seminary, or nursery; and, when of proper age and size, be headed down, to the height of about eight inches, for stools. In many cases, trees standing in grounds, or woods, may be cut down, and give a sufficient supply. In whatever situation they are, the earth round them must be doubly dug, as deep as the soil will allow, and be treated in a manner similar to that of a seed bed,

THE METHOD OF LAYERING is this: Dig a shallow trench round the stool (of a depth suitable to the size and nature of the plant, as from four to eight inches), and having pitched upon the shoots to be layered, bend them to the bottom of the trench (either with or without plashing, as may be found most convenient), and there peg them fast; or, putting some mold upon them, tread them hard enough to prevent their

springing up again;—fill in the mold ;-place the top of the layer in an upright posture, treading the mold hard behind it ;-and cut it carefully off, above the second or third eye.

In this simple way a numerous tribe of plants may be layered: there are many, however, which require a more complex treatment. Some will succeed by having a chip taken off the under side of the lower bend of the layer, which gives the fibres an opportunity of breaking out, with greater freedom: others, by having a cleft made, in that part, by thrusting an awl or bodkin through it, keeping the cleft open, by a chip or wooden pin; or by making a longitudinal slit in the bark only: others succeed better, by twisting the part: and others, again, by pricking it, and binding a wire round it. But when SIMPLE LAYERING will not succeed, the most prevailing, and in general the most certain, method is that of TONGUE LAYERING; which is thus performed: The excavation being made, and the layer chosen and trimmed, ascertain where the lower bend of it will fall, by taking it in the left hand and, bending it down to the bottom of the trench; then placing the thumb of the right hand firmly against the part opposite which the tongue falls, insert the edge of the knife, as with an intent to cut the layer off short, in that place; but having cut about half way thro' it, turn the