76 NAT. ORDER. — BICORNES. 



tus, but thinly set upon the branches ; the fruit is oval and of the 

 same color and consistence with the common sort, but the seeds of 

 this arc flat, while in that they are pointed and angular. This plant 

 grows naturally in all parts of Asia. 



Propagation and Culture. The most usual method of raising 

 these beautiful evergreens is by sowing the seeds ; but they are some- 

 times capable of being raised by cuttings and layers. 



With the first species the seeds should be collected when perfectly 

 ripe, in November, or the following month, and preserved in dry 

 sand till the period of sowing, which may be either in December or 

 the early spring season. The seed should be sown in pots and 

 lightly covered with mould, then plunged into an old tan hot-bed 

 and covered with glasses. By this method of culture the plants 

 will be up in April, wlien they should be often but sparingly watered, 

 and kept free from weeds. 



As (he hot season advances the plants should bo shaded during 

 tlie heat of the days; but in warm weather open all night to receive 

 the dew, and only covered in the middle of the day. By this 

 method the plants become strong the first summer. In the beginning 

 of October they may be shaken out of the pots, and their roots 

 carefully separated, planting them singly in small pots filled with 

 light earth ; then plunging (lie pots into an old bark-bed under a 

 common frame, carefully shading them from the sun in the middle of 

 the day, and giving them water as they require : in this bed the pots 

 should remain during the winter, exposing them to the open air 

 whenever the weather is favorable, but in frosty weather they should 

 be covered suflicient to protect them. In the spring following they 

 may be removed to a gentle hot-bed, which requires no other cover- 

 ing but mats. This enables them to make strong shoots early in the 

 summer, by which they become in a better condition to bear the 

 cold of the succeeding winter. In this bed they should continue 

 during the summer, and be well protected in tlie following winter. 



After the plants have obtained the height of two or three feet, 

 they may be shaken out of the pots, and planted in the open ground 



