924 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



thin slip from two to three inches long, about one third or something better of the whole thickness, 

 smoothly off from each of them, in the clearest part of the stem, with a small sharp knife; a most neces- 

 sary instrument for this business; the bark of each must then be fitted together in the exactest manner, 

 at least on one side, and tied perfectly tight with good matting : they must be clayed in the same m.anner 

 as grafts ; and as being within doors in a warm house will occasion the clay to become over dry, and in 

 consequence liable to crack, they should, at least in dry weather, receive two or three times a-week some 

 water from the rose of a waterpot or by means of a syringe, to presen-e it in a m^ist proper state, ob- 

 serving to do it in the evening, leit the leaves should get scorched by the rays of the sun : a little moss 

 tied neatly round each ball of clay will prevent the water being so frequently necessary ; eight or ten 

 weeks will in general be found sufficient time for them to unite ; at all events, by that time they may- 

 be ])artially separated from the parent plant, by cutting the inarched shoots better than half-way through ; 

 and if on trial, they are found to be united, and bear that operation well, they may in a few days after- 

 wards be entirely cut off and placed in a shady part of the house, where they must be kept moderately 

 syringed as before, and some additional shade given, according to the state of the weather, for two or three 

 weeks; during which time they may be untied, and the top of the stock cut ofFin a neat manner; and 

 also any unnecessary part of the' bottom of the scion that may remain : let a little clay be again applied that 

 these fresh wounds may have sufficient time to become properly healed, which they will in a few weeks. 

 In this manner. Gushing succeeded with myrtus pimento ; and other plants allied to it may be propa- 

 gated on the common myrtle, which are jiarticularly difficult to multiply by any other means; and also 

 many other plants of the same description upon their kind. 



6688. General culture. To attain a respectable degree of perfection in tlie culture of 

 tropical plants, Cushing observes, the principal objects to which one should direct his 

 attention, are assiduity in keeping up the stock by propagation ; a careful nicety in pot- 

 ting, and shifting in the proper season ; a regularity in watering when requisite ; a 

 thorough knowledge of the temperature necessary to be kept in the house ; and a steady 

 attention to the cleanliness and habits of the plants in general. The busmess of shifting, 

 or refreshing the roots of plants with earth properly prepared for that purpose, and trans- 

 planting them into larger pots than they before occupied, is one of the most necessaiy 

 operations required to keep them in a good state of growth. The quantity of earth 

 contained in a flowerpot being in comparison so small to that which is requisite to the 

 support of the generality of plants, it must be supposed that unless it is changed or aug- 

 mented in due season, they will soon exliaust every particle of vegetative matter contained 

 therein, though frequently assisted by proper water, which doubtless contains a large 

 portion of the food of vegetables ; the consequence of which is^ to the weaker-growing 

 and tender kinds, tliat its salts being dissolved, and the sandy particles which kept it in a 

 free open state washed away by the frequent and long continued ablutions, it becomes, in 

 the case of ill drained pots for seeds, sour and coagulated ; and the plant being no longer 

 able to draw its proper nourishment from it, must inevitably decline, and at last be- 

 comes a nuisance to the collection, by breeding insects and filthiness : to the stronger 

 sorts, though in a different manner, it w ill be no less pernicious, by starving them, and 

 thereby occasioning them to dwindle into naked stems, and awkward unsightly forms. 



6689. Tlte season most proper for shifting hot-house plants is about the middle or end of April ; if 

 done earlier (though some hot-house plants may be said to be in a state of growth for the greater part of 

 the year) the generality of them will be found dormant; and therefore will not have the power to 

 establish themselves sufficiently in the fresh earth to prevent a great part of their leaves falling off, and 

 the whole plant acquiring a sickly appearance; and on the other hand, if done much later, most of them 

 will be in a vigorous state, and it will require infinite care, and increase of labor to keep them properly 

 shaded, else the intense influence of the sun on them, at an advanced season, will have, though a dif- 

 ferent cause, nearly the same effect ; and reduce them to fully as disagreeable a state as in the former case. 

 But if taken soon after they have made the first effort for the season's growth, the fibres being set 

 in motion, and not having a top full of young tender leaves to support, they soon find their way into 

 the fresh mould; and the plants, by being thus taken in time, and when done, placed in a brisk bottom 

 heat to assist them, will in the space of three or four days at farthest be well recovered, and in general, 

 able to support themselves against the strongest rays we may reasonably expect at that season, without 

 much danger to their leaves. 



6S90. Operation of shifting. Being fully prepared for the removal of the plants, let apart of them be 

 taken to the potting-shed together, that they may be no longer than necessary out of the stove; and 

 while these are shifting, the remainder may be taken out of the tan, and set on any of the shelves or 

 benches that are over the flues, so as to allow^ sufficient room to have it forked up and turned ; and should 

 it be sunk considerably below the desired height, some fresh well dried tan should be added, and mixed 

 well with the old in turning ; when done, let it be made pretty level with a rake that the plants may be 

 conveniently and regularly set on the surface when shifted. In shifting the plant, the greatest nicety 

 should be used not to injure the roots; because, if the roots, from a multiplicity of wounds, (which are 

 more frequently lacerated than cleanly cut,) once become cankered, or contaminated in any manner, the 

 branches must also be expected to suffer and decay. 



6691. An old but erroneous practice followed by many, is that of paring ofiF the best part of the roots 

 with a knife ; that is, the tips or ends of the fibres, which are undoubtedly the active agents in collecting 

 the food for the stem, &c. ; then, without ever loosening the remaining part of the ball, set in the new 

 pot with a little fresh earth thrown loosely about it : as a matter of course, they think it must then 

 be completely drenched or flooded from the w^aterpot ; and lastly, to crown the whole, perhaps set it 

 immediately in a pan of water ; when, if they only took time to consider the mutilated state, to which 

 they have reduced the roots, it is impossible they could ever conceive them to be in a state fit to undergo 

 such treatment with any kind of advantage : but it is the misfortune of many, who will not for a moment 

 hesitate to undertake the care of tender and curious plants, as a matter easily understood, yet will not 

 take the trouble of judging for themselves, to follow the old track of cutting and watering, the same as 

 they may have before seen practised on the hardiest geraniums or myrtles. Though the method may not 

 seem to hurt some few kinds of strong free-growing plants ; yet it never can be allowed as a proper mode 

 of treatment for all plants indiscriminately, because they may happen to have a good portion of roots : 

 indeed, more plants have been destroyed by this practice than bj' any other particular part of the system 

 of mismanagement which some so blindly follow. There are instances, however, wherein a knife is ne- 

 cessary to the roots as well as the branches, viz. when they become rotten or otherwise contaminated; 

 and also to such as are propagated by cuttings of the roots,' as-most species of geranium may bo, some 

 mimosce also, and indeed any that are observed to produce suckers : in all which cases they should bo 

 taken off with precision, and a sufficiency left to support the parent, if considered worth preserving. 



