March 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
399 
Houlletia. —All the species of the genus are beauti¬ 
ful, and worth increasing. The way to accomplish this 
well, is to break up large plants into three or four, allow¬ 
ing the same number of pseudo-bulbs to each plant or 
division. Single pseudo-bulbs will grow, but they require 
j three or four years to make flowering plants. 
Huntleya. —This is a genus of orchids almost ap¬ 
proaching to evergreen herbaceous plants, and to 
increase them, the same means must be used as for such 
plants, namely, by division. The time for this operation 
is in spring, when the plants are beginning to grow. A 
little extra care in watering is necessary with the small 
divisions or young plants, as they are apt to damp off if 
kept very moist. 
Lacuna. —Increased in the same way as Catnsetum. 
L,elia. —This well-known beautiful genus of plants 
is easily increased by dividing one or two, or more, of the 
back pseudo-bulbs from the leading ones, placing the 
pieces so divided upon naked blocks, and treating them 
in the same way as the established plant, which we 
always cultivate upon blocks, excepting L. Perinnii , 
which should be increased in the same way as if it were 
a Gattleya. 
Leptotes. —The plants of this genus are small, neat, 
and pretty, and are worth propagating. As they natu¬ 
rally send forth several leading rhizomas, it is easy to 
take one off, pot it, and treat it like the large plants. 
Lissochilus. —Propagated the same way as Bletia. 
Lycaste. —In this genus there are some really splen¬ 
did species, especially L. Skinnerii. The safest way 
to propagate them is to pass a knife through the rhizoma, 
dividing one or more back pseudo-bulbs from the lead¬ 
ing ones, and allowing the division to remain in the same 
pot till they have formed new bulbs. Then, at the pot¬ 
ting time, gently separate them, pot, and treat them like 
the old plants. 
Maxillaria. —This was formerly a very large genus, 
but has been split into several genera by Dr. Lindley, 
yet there are some left under that name worth propa¬ 
gating. M. tenuifolia is, perhaps, the best. They are 
propagated in the usual way, by cutting off two or three 
back pseudo-bulbs from an established plant, fixing 
them to a block with a small quantity of moss, and 
allowing them to form their first new bulbs; then pot 
them, and treat them like their parents. 
Miltonta. —An important family of orchids, richly 
deserving every care. They are easily increased by 
cutting off' one or two of the oldest bulbs. They may 
be potted at once, for, if not very old, every one is sure 
to grow, especially if not too much watered at first, nor 
kept too warm. Proportion the size of the pots to the 
size of the divisions. 
Marmodes. —A curious lot of plants, that change 
wonderfully into each other. They are all worth in¬ 
creasing—that is, it is desirable to have more than one 
plant, or, as is the case with most orchids, by dividing 
the plants a number of leading shoots will be obtained, 
and a fine specimen formed, which never could be done 
if the plants were allowed to grow unassisted. 
T. Appleby. 
(To be continued .) 
CULTURE OF THE ROSE FOR EXHIBITION. 
(Continued from paye 384.) 
Budding and Pruning. —The grand season for bud- 
! ding is from about the middle of June to the end of 
| July; this, however, depends much upon the weather 
! and the state of the stocks and buds. If the stocks are 
j growing and the sap flowing freely, the bark will sepa- 
■ rate easily from the wood, and then they are in the best 
j possible state for the operation. The sap should also be 
flowing freely in the shoots from which the buds are to 
j be taken. The materials wanted for budding are a 
sharp good budding-knife, of which there are several 
varieties; the one commonly used has a blade of the ! 
scimitar form, with the handle made of ivory, rather 
flat, and brought to a thin edge at the end, and neatly 
rounded off'. This kind may be procured at any respect 
able seed shop or nursery for 2s. fid. A Mr. Earnshaw, 
of Sheffield, has invented one that has a kind of hollowed 
end made of steel to raise the wood out of the bud, but, 
though it appears to be a likely instrument, the budding 
men are afraid it will not answer so well as the ivory for 
the work; however, it is worth a trial, and when practised 
with awhile may be found useful. Besides these knives, 
Mr. Turner, our old friend, also of Sheffield, has invented 
a budding-knife, which is highly spoken of, but unfortu¬ 
nately I have not seen it, and therefore cannot say in what 
respects it is an improvement upon the ordinary one. 
Another article is some kind of string to tie the bud 
in and keep it firm in its place. The most common is 
the old-fashioned bass mat; this, if used, should be thin, 
soft, and pliable, and should be used in a moist state ; 
thick cotton, or worsted thread is now generally used by 
the large growers, and is very excellent for that pur¬ 
pose. The stocks generally adopted are clean straight 
stems with roots of the common hedge rose. These may 
be procured out of the hedges, or out of copses where 
they grow wild. They may be had of various heights 
from six feet to one foot, all of which will be found 
useful. Plant them in nursery rows in rich soil, early 
in November. Cut off the tops to the desired height 
previously to planting. At the place where they are 
cut the stock should be not less than as thick as a 
man’s little finger. By being of this strength, and 
pretty well rooted, they will be able to send forth one, 
two, or three shoots, strong enough to receive buds the 
succeeding season. 
Previously to putting in the buds, take a common 
pruning-knife and go over the whole of the stocks, dress¬ 
ing off the side-branches of the young shoots (if any 
are produced) close to the stems, especially near to the 
place where the bud is to be inserted. This should be 
done a week or two before the budding season. The 
reason for doing this is to throw a greater quantity of 
sap into the fresh bud, as well as, by cutting off these 
superfluous shoots, to enable the operator to perform his 
work more easily. 
All these preparations being made, and the stocks and 
buds in good working order, choose a rather dull cloudy 
morning, and commence the budding by first taking oft' 
a shoot or two, or more, as may be required, of any kind 
that may be desirable to increase. Put the ends of 
these shoots into a vessel containing water, to keep them 
plump and fresh till they are used. 
In the first volume of The Cottage Gardener there 
are some wood-cuts of the different and various modes 
of budding, and to such of our readers as are fortunate 
enough to possess that volume, we would say turn to 
that place and con over the pictorial lesson. For the 
benefit of such of our readers as may not have the 
volume containing the wood-cuts, we will endeavour to 
describe the operation. Take a shoot of the kind wished 
to be increased, trim off the leaves, leaving on a short 
piece of the leaf-stalk; then cut off a portion of the 
shoot about half-way through, carrying the knife slant¬ 
ing upwards about as much above the bud as the begin¬ 
ning of the cut is below it. When this is cut off, it will 
be about one-and-a-lialf-inch long, with a bud in the 
centre, then put the shoot into the w r ater again, turn the 
bud over, and with the point of the knife raise up the 
wood from the bark at the lower end, give it a smart 
twitch, and the wood will ail come away from the bark 
excepting the small portion in the eye of the bud. 
Should this come out also, the bud will be hollow, and 
of no use ; throw it away, and try the next till you suc¬ 
ceed in leaving it in; then place the bud between your 
