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as is of alight, dry and sandy kind ; otherwise the 

 roots are liable to rot and decay in the winter 

 season, and the plants to he destroyed. 



In the first and second sorts, and their dif- 

 ferent varieties, as they are very productive of 

 suckers or offsets, especially the first, the culture 

 may be readily effected in that way. These 

 should be taken off from the roots any time during 

 the summer season, and be then planted out 

 singly in pots filled with earth of the above 

 kind, plunging them into a hot-bed the heat 

 of which, is very moderate, a little water being 

 previously given them. In this method they 

 readily take root, and become plants. 



The third and fourth species, as they rarely, 

 or ever, produce offsets from their roots, can- 

 not be propagated in the above manner. This 

 i« to be accomplished by setting the young 

 plants, produced on the flower-stems, in pots of 

 light earth, of the kind just mentioned, at the 

 time of their dropping off' in the spring, and 

 then placing them in a hot-bed which has a 

 rather higher temperature than for those of the 

 preceding kinds. 



But as this mode can only be practised when 

 the plants flower, which is very long before it 

 happens, it must be very tedious and uncertain. 

 Another method may therefore be attempted, 

 which is that of raising them by planting, in the 

 same manner as above, pieces slipt off from the 

 roots; which may be performed at the time the 

 plants are removed into fresh pots in the summer. 



The fifth and sixth sorts may be propagated in 

 a manner similar to the last ; but, as they are 

 more tender than the above species, especially 

 the latter, more care will be requisite. 



In the after culture of all the different species 

 and varieties, it will constantly be necessary to re- 

 tain them in pots or tubs, which, in the two first, 

 with their respective varieties, and the fifth kind, 

 may be exposed in the open air during the sum- 

 mer months ; the last being, however, put out 

 somewhat later in the spring, and taken into the 

 greenhouse something earlier in the autumn, 

 than the others. 



But the last three species, from their being of 

 a much more tender nature than the two first, 

 must be constantly protected in the stove du- 

 ring the winter season in this climate, their 

 growth being even considerably checked when 

 placed out in the open air in the summer months. 

 It is therefore the most adviseable practice, to let 

 them have a pretty free admission of air in this 

 situation, during the continuance of the hot season. 



Very little or no water should he given them 

 in the winter months, hut in the summer it may 

 be very sparingly applied once or twice a week. 

 By this mean:; the roots may be preserved in a 



healthy condition, and their leaves be free from 

 the attacks of insects. 



The plants must be shifted annually, or every 

 second year, in the summer season, into pots of 

 fresh earth, of larger sizes, according to their 

 growth, taking care that they be not too large, 

 as the plants are never found to thrive well unless 

 their roots be in some measure confined. Sec 

 Shifting of Plants. 



Those species that are of large growth, as 

 the first and second, may be best in tubs; and 

 as they often arrive at such sizes as to be mov- 

 ed with great difficulty and inconvenience before 

 they attain the flowering state, it may be neces- 

 sary to have the tubs set upon wooden frames 

 fixed on low wheels, in order to facilitate the 

 business of removing them into and out of the 

 greenhouse. And as on this account they not 

 only take up much room, but are troublesome 

 in their management, it may be sufficient to cul- 

 tivate only one or two of such large sorts. 



The disposition of these plants to flower may 

 be discovered by the expansion of the central 

 leaves, and the appearance of the bud from which 

 the future stem is to proceed. In cases where 

 its progress is very tardy, artificial heat may be 

 sometimes had recourse to, in order to advance 

 its growth more rapidly. For this purpose- a pit 

 of suitable dimensions may be dug out, in which 

 a hot-bed of dung, or tanners bark and dung in 

 mixture, may be formed and raised to the height 

 of two or three feet. The pot or tub is then to 

 be plunged into this bed, and the plant watered 

 in the manner already recommended, due room 

 being provided for the stem to rise in, if it be 

 in a confined situation ; but when in the open 

 air a temporary covering should be made for its 

 occasional protection against cold, &c. 



It has been already observed to be a com- 

 mon opinion, that these plants do not arrive 

 at the state of flowering in a shorter period 

 than about one hundred years : this wcwnld 

 seem, however, not to be regulated by length 

 of time but the growth of the plant, which 

 greatly depends on the warmth of the climate 

 and other causes. As the flowering-stem comes 

 out in the centre between the leaves that 

 surround it closely and embrace each other, the 

 coldness of this climate must necessarily retard 

 the growth of the plant, by the unfolding of 

 the leaves on which it so greatly depends be- 

 ing thereby much delayed, and of course the 

 flowering of the plants be a work of conside- 

 rable time. It often requires sixty, seven- 

 ty, or even a greater number of years, before 

 tliis expansion of the leaves has been effected ; 

 but when accomplished, the steins run up to 

 their full growth with vast rapidity, often in the 



