268 Propagation by Layers and Grafts. 



same attention they will soon come into flower. As in roo 

 there is not the same convenience for potting or shifting them 

 in a conservatory, they may be kept in such rooms till the seas 

 arrives for placing them out in summer, when they can 1 

 fresh potted if they require it, and they will perfect their fl 0We 

 buds by autumn. 



Camellias are increased by grafting them on stocks of the 

 single red variety, the cuttings of which may be taken off the 

 parent plant at any season after the wood of the previon, 

 growth is ripe, and planted in pots of white sand, which should 

 be well drained, and two or three leaves left on each cutting 

 Place them in a shady part of the green-house, for five or six 

 weeks, and then plunge them up to their rims in a hot-bed, and 

 when rooted, they should be separated into small pots, kept 

 shaded when first potted, then nursed along till of fit size to 

 graft. 



PROPAGATION BY LAYERS AND GRAFTS. 



In order to propagate any particular variety of fruit or 

 flowef, the cultivator reserves some of the leafy buds of the 

 tree or plant, and places these in circumstances favorable to 

 their growth. In many instances, the leaves or leaf-buds have 

 the power of forming roots for themselves ; and this is especially 

 the case when the neighboring part contains a temporary sup- 

 ply of nourishment for them, such as the tuber of the potato 

 imparts to the eyes, or buds, which it contains. Thus, if the 

 young branches of a vine be cut into as many pieces as there 

 are leaf-bud3, and these be properly laid in a favorable soil, and 

 stimulated to growth by heat and moisture, they will soon put 

 out roots and become perfect plants ; being at first supported 

 by the nutritious matter contained in the wood to which they ad- 

 here, and afterwards by the products of its decay. It is in 

 this way that sugar-cane is propagated ; the plants that spring 

 from these cuttings being more vigorous, and coming earlier 

 to maturity, than those raised from seed. This method is often 



