260 Propagation of Stove and Greenhouse Exotics. 



2. Cuttings. — Most exotics may be increased by this mode ; 

 many of them by yomig cuttings a little hardened at the base, 

 some by ripened ones, and a few by means of very yomig 

 ones. However, when it is desired to propagate any partic- 

 ular kind, a healthy plant should be chosen for the purpose. 

 This is not generally borne in mind. Many cultivators select 

 the shabbiest plant in their collection, without ever consid- 

 ering that it is to become the parent of many, and nine out of 

 every ten will be diseased. Indeed few, if any, will ever 

 make good specimen plants, be they ever so well treated. At 

 any rate, if the cutting be not healthy, reason will teach us 

 that it cannot perform the functions necessary to produce' 

 roots. 



If the kind to be propagated from is an inmate of the green- 

 house, let it be removed to a moist stove about the first of 

 February, where it will produce its young shoots early, and, 

 when the shoots are of a sufficient length, say from 1^ to 3 

 inches, according to the sort, take it back to its own depart- 

 ment to harden off a little, and get ripened more or less, as 

 may be required : this, however, must be regulated according 

 to the sort in question. From the first of February to the 

 end of May is the best time to increase by cuttings, as then the 

 plants have ample time to root and be potted off in season to 

 stand the following winter with success. But the time of taking 

 off cuttings depends chiefly on the nature of the plant to be 

 propagated. Heaths, epacrises, phylicas, diosmas, burto- 

 nias, &c. &c., should be taken off when the plants are in a 

 growing state, or when they have nearly completed their 

 growth ; and this is generally in spring, or beginning of sum- 

 mer. If not naturally in a growing state at this time, it is 

 easy rendering them so by a slight degree of artificial heat. 

 Some take their cuttings off in the fall ; but this practice I do 

 not approve of, as it incurs the expense of artificial heat to 

 protect them during winter; besides, the absence of light, and 

 the presence of damp, will more than likely occasion many 

 deaths ; but, when taken off in spring, the bright days are 

 coming, solar influence increasing, and, consequently, very 

 little fuel is consumed ; and, what is of the most consequence, 

 the plants are full as well established by winter as those put 

 in in the fall. 



