known, and may be kept down as a bushy shrub, 
but will have better character as a tree. 
Grown either as a shrub or tree, this is nearly 
the handsomest of the genus ; some of the Mag- 
nolias being, it must be confessed, of straggling 
and ungraceful habit. This obseiwation cannot, 
however, apply to granditlora, which undoubtedly 
is one of the most splendid evergreen exotics 
possessed by our gardens. Cordata has, however, 
the advantage of hardiness, being of sufficiently 
active vegetation to lipen its wood duiing our 
summer, hence it is not disfigured in spring by 
dead terminations of all its branches, as are the 
more tender species of Magnolia. 
In America the bark of the Magnolias takes, in 
a considerable degree, the place of Pemvian bark 
with us, being as it is a powerful tonic. The half- 
ripe bitter fruit, too, of some species is sometimes 
infused in whiskey, and taken as a j^reventive of 
autumnal fevers. 
Magnolia cordata is usually propagated by graft- 
ing it on some of the more common species ; it 
may, however, be increased by layering, but the 
layers should be tongued when laid down, and 
they \rill require two years for rooting before their 
removal. Where there is a choice of soil and 
situation, a veiy sandy loam should be allotted it, 
and a position where it will not be crowded by 
othgr trees, but srill where it may receive a little 
shelter from northern blasts. Seedhng plants may 
sometimes be raised or })urchased, but they are not 
desirable, inasmuch as they never flower at so early 
an age as plants propagated by layering. 
