148 ON HOTHOUSE PLANTS. 



vigour of the plant. The atmosphere of the house will require to 

 be duly attended to, and the thermometer regulated mornings 

 and evenings, at 65 degrees, which may be allowed to vary from 

 90 to 100 degrees, by the influence of sun heat. 



Most sorts of tropical plants are increased, either by cuttings, 

 seeds, or dividing at the root, whence offsets of the Orchideee and 

 Cryptogamia genus are procured ; and when those throw out such 

 suckers, or side offsets, we have a plant supplied with roots imme- 

 diately, which may be, at once, potted, and treated accordingly. 

 I may, however, observe, that these suckers, or offsets, should be 

 allowed to form good roots before they are taken from the mother 

 plant, which will the better secure their future success. The 

 hard woody kinds may be propagated by cuttings, which will root 

 freely in most instances, when planted in a sharp sand, and placed 

 in a shaded situation of the stove, or in any other apartment where 

 they can be shaded from the effects of the mid-day sun; as a 

 small pit or frame is generally appropriated for this purpose, which 

 can readily be shaded by throwing a mat over the lights while the 

 cuttings are striking root : some of the species will require a slight 

 degree of bottom heat, to induce them to throw out young roots. 

 The most suitable season for the propagating of tropical plants, is 

 from January to July ; but many of the kinds may be put into the 

 cutting pots at any period of the year, providing that the young 

 shoots are in a proper state, as some species require the wood 

 to be ripened and firm before they are put in ; whilst others may 

 be increased when the shoots have grown only sufficiently long for 

 the cutting. In striping the foliage from the shoot, care must be 

 taken not to injure the bark, and not to clear away more of the 

 leaves than are necessary for the insertion of the lower end of the 

 cutting in the soil or sand in the pot, where they are all inserted ; 

 a gentle watering should be given, to settle the soil about them 

 and the pots then covered with hand-glasses until the cuttings 

 begin to grow, and throw out young roots, when a little air may 

 be given, to prevent their being drawn up in a weak state. The 

 sand, or mould, in which they are planted, must not be saturated 

 too much with water, otherwise it will rot the cuttings. 



When the plants have struck root, they should be immediately 

 potted off in small sized pots, and placed in a slight hot-bed for a 

 few days, and kept shaded from the effects of the mid-day sun 

 until they have got a little established, when they may be re- 

 moved with safety to the stove. 



