DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERS, 307 



root ill the manner of a graft, a slice of the root being 

 taken off to receive the piece intended to be united with 

 it. When the fitting is completed, it is to be covered 

 with clay, taking care to leave the eye exposed ; the pot 

 must be kept covered with a hand glass. 



" Some nurserymen have succeeded in grafting the Tree 

 varieties on the roots of the herbaceous sorts. To this 

 end, strong roots of herbaceous varieties are procured ; 

 these are kept growing and then grafted, a branch Avitli 

 one or more buds being inserted on the side of the root. 

 The grafted roots are put under bell-glasses, or in frames 

 placed by preference in a north aspect, and the grafts soon 

 become united and commence to grow, promptly produc- 

 ing roots fur themselves. The grafting is performed from 

 the middle of July to the middle of Sej^tember. Ripe 

 cuttings, taken off in August and September, with a small 

 piece of old wood at the end, and planted against the side 

 of garden pots, in a mixture of loam, leaf-mould, and sand 

 well drained, and protected from the air by glasses, will 

 succeed. Tlie pots must be secured from frost in the win- 

 ter, and shaded iu summer ; in the spring, the progress of 

 the cuttings may be assisted by being placed in a frame 

 with a gentle bottom heat. But the more general plan 

 of multiplying Moutans is by layers, the shoots for which 

 purpose should be planted in protecting pits, or in shel- 

 tered borders, which should be covered with mats, spread 

 over hoops; the branches, when laid down, require" a 

 longer time to emit roots, than is usual with the common 

 shrubs, and the largest are seldom fit to be removed until 

 they have remained two years attached to the stool. 

 The shoots, when laid down, reqtiire a longitudinal slit or 

 tongue in the inner part of the bend ; and tliis must be 

 made with care, for, being brittle, the wood is liable to 

 break. The tongued part should be bedded in a mixture 

 of loam and sand." 



