Propagation of Stove and Greenhouse Exotics. 313 



and are generally fit for sale in two years, if placed in good 

 soil. A man accustomed to grafting can do from nine to 

 twelve hundred a day very easily, and tie his own strings. 

 Weak growing kinds generally grow stout and remarkably 

 straight by this plan, and as it can be done in the winter, 

 when nothing else of consequence can be done, there is a great 

 saving of time. 



In the spring, the boxes should be taken out of the cellar, 

 and placed in some frames, pits, or the greenhouse, to start 

 them into growth : or, if none of these are at hand, place them 

 out of doors in a warm situation, as it is necessary to start 

 them two or three inches before planting out ; they will not be 

 injured if you do not plant them out till the middle of May. 

 Such has been my practice of root-grafting, and, if properly 

 done, it will never fail to succeed. 



Flushing J L. /., Jime, 1847. 



Art. V. On the Propagation of Stove and Greenhouse Ex- 

 otics : in a Series of Letters. By James Kennedy, Gardener 

 to S. T. Jones, Staten Island, New York. 



Letter III. Propagation ly Offsets. 



This is the mode by which bulbous and tuberous rooted 

 plants are propagated. They are, however, sometimes in- 

 creased by seed, but being so much longer than offsets in 

 reaching a flowering state occasions this mode to be but sel- 

 dom resorted to. 



There are some kinds, however, from which I would prefer 

 propagation by seed. Of these, the amaryllis, of which there 

 are many varieties. I have found hybrids to be much pref- 

 erable, as they often surpass the originals in beauty, and in- 

 variably flower more freely under good management. 



In a situation I had the honor of filling as head gardener, 

 in England, about eight miles from London, I succeeded in 

 obtaining some beautiful hybrids by transferring the pollen 

 from Amaryllis Johnsomi to A. reticulata, from reticulata to 

 vittata, from fulgida to vittata, from fulgida to Johnsonii, and 



VOL. xni. — NO. VII. 29 



