CHE REFERENCE LIBRARY - ZetaTalk

PROPAG*41’ION BY LAYERS AND IiUivNERS 71themselves. It is a ready means of multiplying hard-woodedplant,s that. do not grow well from cuttings.All \‘ines, and plants with runners or long and slender shootsthat fall to the ground, may be multiplied readily by layerage.Among fruits, the black-cap raspberry and dewberry are familiarexamples. The raspberry canes of the current year bend overlate in summer and the tips strike the earth. If the tip isschc’ured by a slight covering of earth, or if it finds lodgmentin a mellow soil, roots are formed, and in autumn a strong bud01 “ cro\vli ” or “ q7-2 ” is developt’clfor 11cst year’s growth.The parent (3nc is s~ered in fallor sprilq, some 4 or (i inches abovethe ground, and an independentplant, lin0wn as a “ root-tip,” assliomm in ITig. GO, is okained. 111this c’sampl~, as in most others,it is imniattG1 at what pointFIG. GO.the parent stem is severed, exceptRaspberry tip.that a short pic(*tb of it serves as a handle in carrying theplant, and alto marks the position of the plant when it isscht. The blac4~ raspberry propagates itself naturally by meansof these layers, tI11d it is only necessary, in most cases, to bringthe earth into a 1n~4ow condition when the tips begin to touchthe groun(l, ill orclr~r that they may find anchorage. Thisla~xkng I)>* inserting the growing point has the advantage ofproduci i 1g vtq* strong “ crow’iis ” or plants in autumn fromshoots or cttnes 01’ the same year, and it should be more~eneruIl~- pract icet 1. 1393~ currants, gooseberries and man)0th~ plants ~a11 1~ pi*opaguted in this way.I II most killcls of layer&, it is necessary to bend down thebran&3 ilil(3 t0 t'O\'t'l' tlltliI1. Thr-: covering may be continuous,ilS ii1 142~. (;I, or it lnay be applied oiilJV to the joints or restrictedparts of tlltk shoot, as illustrated in Fig. 4X. In either