13 
PROPAGATION AND MANAGEMENT OF GREEN-HOUSE, 
CONSERVATORY, AND STOVE PLANTS, 
AS DETAILED BY MR. FORBES, IN HIS " HORTUS WOBURNENSIS." 
The propagation of green-house and conservatory plants will require to be 
performed at various periods throughout the year, as the cuttings should be put 
in according as they appear in a fit state ; that is, when the young shoots begin to 
assume a brownish colour, and are getting of rather a firm texture, as many of the 
sorts are liable to damp, or rot off, when the wood is soft and young. 
Previously to preparing the cuttings, there should be a pot or deep pan got in 
readiness, well drained, and filled with the soil or sand, as the nature of the plant 
may require. The hard woody kinds will strike root best in sharp sand, while the 
soft or herbaceous-like sorts, will root freely in a mixture of sand and loam. There 
should also be got ready the frame for sowing tropical seeds, &c, into which such 
sorts as require a little bottom heat may be plunged as soon as they are put in the 
cutting pots. Those species which are put in early in spring will succeed better 
by the assistance of a little heat applied around the pots : but when the season 
is more advanced, they will readily strike root without it. 
In preparing the cuttings, care must be taken not to injure the bark in the 
removal of the leaves, which should be cut off close to the wood, as far as is necessary 
for that part of the cutting to be inserted in the soil ; none of the upper leaves 
ought to be shortened or removed ; nor should they be planted deeper in the soil 
than is requisite for the fastening of the cuttings : when they are put in, a little 
water should be given, to settle the soil or sand more firmly about them. As soon 
as the wet has evaporated from their leaves, they should be removed to the propa- 
gating frame, and if covered with bell or hand-glasses, the surer in general will be 
the success ; although many of the sorts will strike very freely without them, 
provided they are not exposed to too much air, and are shaded from the effects 
of the mid-day sun. 
The cutting pots will require to be frequently examined, and should not be 
permitted to become either too wet or too dry, but be kept in a medium vegetating 
state of moisture. The glasses will require occasionally wiping, to prevent the 
damp from injuring or rotting the leaves of the cuttings. As soon as the cuttings 
have struck root, and begin to grow, they ought immediately to be potted off in 
small sized pots, and replaced in a frame, where they can be gradually hardened, 
and acclimated to the temperature of the green-house, previous to their removal 
out of that department. There are, however, many species of plants, we cannot 
propagate by cuttings of their branches, and we are, consequently, obliged to have 
recourse to other means of propagation to increase the stock ; such as by grafting, 
budding, layering, inarching, and the saving of seeds. 
