198 THE FLORIST AND 



patience, and none but an enthusiast will try it. There is one consolation, 

 however, which is, when once broken, the after progeny remains generally 

 true to character. 



Wm. Cholton, 

 New Brighton, Staten Island. 



ON THE PROPAGATION AND CULTIVATION OF THE 



MAGNOLIA. 



BY J. P. KIRTLAND, M. D. 



Several horticultural journals have recently directed public attention to 

 the Magnolia, as a valuable ornamental tree. Too much cannot be said in 

 its praise ; but in all of the articles which have appeared upon it, there is 

 discoverable an omission of the practical details necessary to be understood 

 and followed, to insure success in any attempts at introducing it into our 

 grounds. If the amateur cultivator should rely on those grounds as guides, 

 he would find his efforts, with most of the species and varieties of this 

 interesting genus, to result in loss and disappointment. 



Meehan, in his very valuable work on ornamental trees, has in part 

 supplied those omissions. Perhaps the following suggestions may afford 

 some additional aid : 



Suggestion First. — Magnolias of much size and maturity cannot he 

 transplanted with any great prospect of success. 



With the best of management, in favorable seasons, a small per centage, 

 especially of the more shrubby or dwarfish kinds, may survive a removal ; 

 yet they will usually linger in an unhealthy condition, between life and 

 death, for a number of years. It then necessarily follows, that the stocks 

 on which the more valuable kinds are to be propagated, should be either 

 raised primarily on the location where they are destined to remain, or be 

 transplanted there, while young and of small size. 



If the former plan be decided on, the ground must be prepared by 

 digging a hole from two to three feet deep, and four feet in diameter. This 

 must then be filled with a compost, consisting of vegetable mould from the 

 forest one part, and well decayed sods cut from a sandy soil, and containing 

 little or no lime, two parts. When this compost is firmly settled, a dozen 



