VARIOUS MODES OF PROPAGATION.
Plants are reproduced or propagated in various ways; some by seeds, some by offsets, as tulips and hyacinths; some by dividing the root, some by layers, some by cuttings. Currant and gooseberry-trees, as well as rose-trees, and also the vine, are propagated by cuttings; i. e. pieces of the young last-year branches are cut off about six inches in length, and, the top being taken off, are placed with the thickest end in the ground. Strawberries are reproduced by dividing the root, or by taking the runner which the plant has itself fixed in the ground as the nucleus of a new plant, and putting it in a proper situation. Raspberries give out suckers from the parent root, which may be taken off and replanted, like the lilac, the rose, and many other plants; but in taking them off, which is generally done by a spade, they should be taken pretty near to the parent stem, and should have fibrous roots attached. In taking offsets, such as those of bulbous roots, it is only necessary to take those which nature herself separates from the parent bulb; in tubers, such as the artichoke and potato, the tubers of middle size are to be taken and planted; or in regard to the latter root, the eyes or shoots only are sometimes planted, the root being cut into various portions.
LAYERS.
If we observe the strawberry plant, we find that at a certain season of the year it throws out offsets, and at certain distances a knob or knot arises, from which roots shoot into the earth, while from its upper centre a bud appears, and then a new plant is formed. The process of layering is to artificially produce this, and similar operations of nature. Some plants throw out roots whenever their stump or branches come in contact with the soil, but others require the assistance of art. The art of layering, therefore, consists in taking the shoot of a growing plant as near the root as possible; this is first to be cut half through, and then a slit is made in an upward direction, and, a piece of twig being placed in the divided part, the shoot is pegged down with the joint buried in the ground. After a time this joint begins to throw out roots, and when these are firmly established and begin to draw nutriment from the earth, the shoot may be detached from its parent stem, and it then becomes a new plant. Layers may be made in the spring months, and also in the month of July.
PIPINGS
Are cuttings of carnations, pinks, &c. They are tubular stems, having joints at certain distances, and they are pulled asunder by the fingers at these joints; the lower leaves are then pulled off, and the pipe is placed in some nicely prepared soil, leaving its upper portion, consisting of the sprouting leaf bud, to grow, while the lower pipe shoots into a root.
GRAFTING.
Grafting, inarching, and budding, are generally performed in the month of March. The operation of inarching is sometimes performed by nature. When two branches of a tree lie in contact, the rough winds of winter often cause them to rub against each other, so that a wound is produced in one or both, and the juices that flow from the wounded parts gradually cause an incorporation of the substances, so that the two branches become united into one. This is not to be wondered at in branches of the same tree, or in those of the same kind, but it is a matter of some surprise to find that a tree bearing small and unpalatable fruit may be cut down, and the remaining part grafted with a scion from a species bearing large and delicious fruit, instead of the small sour fruit of the stalk. Thus it is then that by grafting, we preserve and multiply a favoured variety of trees which could not be propagated from seeds with any certainty of success.