266 EYES ARE ASSISTED BY LEAVES. 



off as many leaves close to the braneli as I want, taking, of course, the 

 buds off with them. The leaves are potted immediately in 48-sized 

 pots, in peat and sand, and are placed about one-third their depth into 

 the soU, and the pots are then plunged into a tan-bed where no flre- 

 heat is employed; they are covered with a hand-glass, kept moderately 

 moist, and shaded when necessary. These leaves strike root, grow 

 vigorously, and in two seasons make good stocks for grafting on. 

 This mode of raising Camellia stocks is very convenient, for it is often 

 easier to procure leaves than grafts, and the plan answers weU when 

 leaves are sent from a distance. In April, 1843, a blossom of a new 

 double Camellia was sent to me ; it had travelled upwards of 300 miles, 

 and was so dry that I could not discover its colour ; there were, 

 however, two or three leaves attached to it, one of which was treated as 

 above, and I have now from it a very strong plant, five feet six inches 

 in height, producing nine flower-buds ready to expand. The plant has 

 been stopped twice in order to cause it to throw out branches, which 

 are now eleven in number ; the circumference of the stem is an inch and 

 a half at the bottom, I likewise raise Orange stocks in a s imil ar 

 manner; the leaves are cut off in. August, and are potted but not 

 covered with hand-glasses. The stocks which I use for Orange-graft- 

 ing are Citrons, which being strong growers, make excellent plants by 

 the following summer. The Citrons, I imagine, may, however, be 

 grown much quicker by putting in the leaves in February instead of 

 August, I have no doubt that the plants wiU be sufficiently strong to 

 be grafted by the end of July or early in August." 



This is a very different process from propagation by mere leaves, the 

 subject of the next chapter. 



In tlie Potato the requisite provision of organisable matter 

 is always secured, in consequence of tlie great dif&culty of 

 separating an eye of that plant, without fragments of the fleshy 

 tuber adhering to it. 



The provision of alimentary matter may, however, be, iij 

 some cases, disadvantageous, by promoting too great a develop- 

 ment of stems and leaves, of which the Potato itself is an 

 instance. Theoretically, the more nutritive matter there is for 

 the eyes, the greater crop there wiU be, ceteris paribus, and so 

 there probably is of leaves and stems ; and it would, seem that 

 whole potatoes should be more advantageous to plants than sets. 

 But I have proved by a series of numerous experiments, that the 

 weight of potatoes is per acre greater, under equal circum- 

 stances, from sets than from whole tubers, by upwards of from 



