300 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS. 



by budding and grafting in the open air in summer or early spring. The 

 Lilacs will grow when grafted on the Ash and common Privet, but the 

 union between the two kinds of wood is seldom perfect, and the plants 

 not very long lived. 



Tamar ind us (Tamarind). Semi-tropical or tropical evergreen trees 

 bearing delicious fruit, well known in all great cities in its preserved or 

 dried state. Readily propagated by seeds, which should be sown in a 

 hot-bed or where it can be given bottom heat, and the young plants 

 taken up and potted singly when a few inches high, or in hot climates 

 set out in a half-shady bed. The plants may also be increased by cut- 

 tings planted in sand under glass, or in the open ground in tropical 

 countries. 



Tamartx (Tamarisk). Slender-growing shrubs or small trees from 

 Europe and Asia. All are evergreen in warm climates, or when grown 

 under glass; but the French Tamarisk (T. Gallica), the species most 

 common in the gardens of this country, is slowly deciduous in the lati- 

 tude of New York City and a few degrees further south. The hardy 

 species and varieties are readily propagated by cuttings of the mature 

 shoots, planted in the open ground, either in the fall or spring. 



Taxodium (Bald Cypress). A small genus of lofty-growing, decid- 

 uous coniferous trees, with very short and narrow, or long and slender, 

 thread-like leaves. The Bald or Deciduous Cypress is a familiar indige- 

 nous representative of the genus growing abundantly in the swamps of 

 the Southern States. Although this tree is a native of a warm climate, 

 still it is quite hardy in most of our Northern States, and thrives in 

 almost any kind of soil. The Glyptostrobus of China are now considered 

 as only species of the genus Taxodium, although the former name is 

 still retained in nurserymen's catalogues, and in a few botanical works. 

 The Taxodiums are readily propagated by seeds, treated in the same man 

 ner as those of the ordinary conifers. Also by layers, and the cuttings 

 of the young shoots in summer, placed in pure sand, constantly saturated 

 with water. They will also strike root in water alone, but the sand is 

 preferable, because it will hold each cutting in one position or place, un- 

 til the roots are formed. The weeping, variegated, and other varieties 

 of the oriental Taxodiums, may be grafted on stocks of the American 

 Bald Cypress. Grafting in spring in the open air and close to the ground 

 is sometimes practiced with success, but the cions should be shaded for 

 a time with paper caps, or an inverted flower pot will answer. Veneer 

 grafting under glass in August is however the preferable mode for all 

 kinds of coniferous trees. 



Taxus (Yews). Well-known ornamental evergreen trees and shrubs. 

 They are closely allied .to the conifers, but the fruit is not a cone, but 

 drupe-like, and the seed enclosed in a soft, bright red, cup-shaped berry. 

 Our American Yew (T. Canadensis) is alow, prostrate shrub, found com- 

 mon in woods far ncrth. Propagated by seeds, layers, and cuttings of 

 the green twigs under glass, or the mature wood taken off in the fall and 



