CHAP, cxiii. coni'fer^. ^bie'tin^. 2129 



at a certain season, is of service, although by no means when the cuttings are 

 first put in. I would recommend the cuttings, for tlie first five or six weeks, 

 to be covered with a bell-glass, and placed in a shady part of any house or 

 pit where the thermometer generally stands at about 60°; after which they may 

 have a little bottom heat, which may be increased until they are rooted. It is 

 doubted by many, whether plants of Conlferse, raised from cuttings, will ever 

 form leaders, like seedling plants, unless a leader be selected for the cutting. 

 I can only say that all I have raised have formed good leaders, and many of 

 them have grown 6 in. this season (1837). The following are the species 

 which I have raised from cuttings : — Pinus sylvestris, halepensis, Cembra, 

 excelsa, and monticola; A'bies excelsa, nigra, Pichta, 'Simth.idna (^Morinda), 

 Menziesra, Douglasra, and Clanbrasili««a ; Picea pectinata, nobilis, Webb2«?«a, 

 and amabilis j iarix microcarpa ; Cedrus Libani and Deoddra ; Cunninghamja 

 sinensis ; Araucaria imbricata." 



By Grafting. The application of this mode of propagation to- the pine and 

 fir tribe was first made by the Baron Tschoudy, probably about the end of 

 the last century ; and was practised by him on his estate at Colombey, near 

 Metz, and in the Botanic Garden of that city. It is described at length 

 in various works, of which one of the latest is the Traite Pratique of Dela- 

 marre, p. 138. 142. ; the essence of which is as follows : — The species intended 

 to be united should be as nearly allied as possible ; for, though the pinaster, 

 and the P. Pinea may be grafted on the P. sylvestris, and the cedar on the 

 larch, yet it is preferable (because the grafts succeed better, and the trees 

 produced are likely to last longer) to graft species which are evergreens on 

 evergreen stocks, and those with the leaves in bundles on stocks not only with 

 the leaves also in bundles, but with the same number of leaves in each bundle. 

 P. Pinea is found to succeed remarkably well on P. maritima, and P. Cembra 

 on P. jStrobus. The operation of herbaceous grafting is performed in the cleft 

 manner ; the slit being made a little deeper than that part of the scion which is 

 to be inserted in it. The time of performing the operation is when the leading 

 shoot of the stock has attained the length of from 8 in. to 12 in., and will 

 break over (without tearing the bark) like a piece of glass, or the most 

 succulent part of a shoot of asparagus fit to gather for the table. The time 

 during which any given species has its leading shoot in a fit state for being 

 broken over in this manner is not more than 15 days; and, as the scions from 

 the species to be grafted are equally tender with the stock, they will not remain 

 longer in a state fit for the operation than about the same period. The graft is 

 always inserted in the leading shoot ; the greater number of the side shoots 

 are either removed altogether, or shortened; and the young shoots produced 

 from the stocks during the season are pinched off with the finger and thumb 

 at about half their length. In performing the operation, the first step is to 

 break over the leading shoot with the hand, so as to reduce it to the length 

 of from 4 in. to 6 in. ; the leaves are next removed from this remaining 

 portion, with the exception of about an inch at the top, on which they are 

 left for the purpose of drawing up the sap. The scions should have been 

 procured the same day or the evening before, from the extremity of the 

 branches of the kinds to be grafted ; and they should be preserved in a vessel 

 of water, and covered with grass or leaves to exclude the sun. The scions 

 need not be above 2 in. in length ; the lower half of which should be deprived 

 of its leaves, and cut in the form of a thin wedge, the operator using a very 

 sharp knife. The scion should be rather narrower than the stock, in order that 

 it may be more completely tied into it, which is done by a ligature of matting, or 

 woollen twist. After this is done, the graft is covered with a cornet of paper, 

 slightly tied to the stock, so as to exclude the sun, but yet admit the air. 

 From 10 to 15 days after grafting, the cornet may be taken away ; about 

 15 days later the hgature may be removed ; and in six weeks or two 

 months afterwards, the upper part of the stock left with the leaves on may 

 be trimmed off on both sides of the scion, and all the shoots which have 

 been produced on the lower part of the stock removed, so as to throw the 



6 Y 2 



