The nursery-book Author:Liberty Hyde Bailey Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. LAYERAGE. Many plants habitually propagate by means of decum bent shoots and runners. These shoots become more or less covered with earth or l... more »eaves, and roots are emitted, usually at the joints. In many cases, the old shoots die away and an entirely independent plant arises from each mass of roots. In other plants, the shoots remain attached to the parent, at least for a number of years, so that the plant comprises a colony of essentially independent but connected individuals. Great numbers of plants which do not propagate naturally by means of layers are readily increased by this means under the direction of the cultivator. In most cases it is only necessary to lay down the branches, cover them with earth, and allow them to remain until roots are well formed, when the parts can be severed from the parent. Layering is one of the simplest and commonest methods of propagation, as the mother-plant nurses the layer-plants until they can sustain themselves. It is a ready means of multiplying hard-wooded plants, which do not grow well from cuttings. All vines, and all plants which have runners or long and slender shoots which fall to the ground, may be multiplied readily by layerage. Among fruits, the black-cap raspberry and dewberry are familiar examples. The raspberry canes of the current year bend over late in summer and the tips strike the earth. If the tip is secured by a slight covering of earth, or if it finds lodgment in a mellow soil, roots are emitted, and in the fall a strong bud or "crown " or " eye "is formed for next year's growth. The parent cane is severed in the fall or spring, some 4 or 6 inches above the ground, and an independent plant, known as a "root-tip," as shown in Fig. 28, is obtained. In this instance., as in most others, it is immate...« less