198 ON PROPAGATING PLANTS. 



intelligent and indefatigable botanist, Mr. Murray of Glasgow, who 

 substitutes for the water a^potato or turnip, into which he inserts the 

 bottom end of the scion. Some propagators have recomended in- 

 serting the lower end of the scion into the mould of a pot, kept at a 

 proper degree of heat and moisture ; and in some cases where it has 

 been practised, the scion has rooted in the mould, and where such has 

 occurred, the part below the union of the graft has been cut off, 

 and has consequently produced a perfect plant, giving thus two plants 

 instead of one. Instances have also occurred of the scion rooting into 

 the water, and in like manner producing a plant. It may be men- 

 tioned, as a necessary precaution in the above method of grafting, 

 that to prevent too rapid evaporation, produced either by the sun or 

 winds, a cap of stout paper or parchment has been recommended, which 

 may be fixed a little below the part operated on, and so contrived as to 

 enclose the whole of the upper part of the stock. This precaution 

 becomes particularly necessary when the operation is performed in 

 the open air, and particularly in the case of resinous or gummy 

 trees. 



Of the plants which belong to those departments, which are pro- 

 pagated by these methods, may be enumerated the families of Cam- 

 ellia and Citrus, the varieties of which are generally propagated 

 by the two latter methods, as are some species of Daphne, Berberis 

 fasicularis, and various others. Sometimes grading is performed 

 on the roots of some rare plants, as iu the case of Pwonia papavericia 

 which is often grafted on pieces of the roots of Pozonia inoutan. 



Experienced operators propagate plants by these means with much 

 success, and indeed the idea of increasing the size of a Camellia, 

 for example, to an almost unlimited extent, by inarching very large 

 branches, or, in some cases, entire plants upon others of greater size, 

 appears to be perfectly practicable. As the size of these plants 

 adds to their value, and as they are several years before they acquire 

 a large size, however well they may be cultivated, this mode of in- 

 creasing them certainly deserves to be more generally adopted. I 

 possess a plant which has above thirty different varieties growing 

 upon it. Large specimens of Camellias, and of several other plants, 

 are more likely to be quickly attained by a process of this kind than 

 bv any other. The precise season of performing the above operations 

 on exotic plants, will always be governed by the state of the wood on 

 the plants, and by no stated period of the season. When the wood 

 or buds are in a fit state, then the operation should be proceeded 

 with. 



August 2nd, 1836. 



