MAM M OT I I C ALA 1)1 U MS. 



359 



THE FLOWERS ARE SHAPED LIKE ENORMOUS JACK-IN-THE PULPITS." 



top soil, but is retained and checked, ami 

 can only disappear by gradually soaking 

 into the soil. 



With their enormous surface exposed 

 to the sun, the transpiration is exceed- 

 ingly great and unless watched carefully 

 the leaves soon show evidence of excess- 

 ive heat by beginning to droop. This 

 should be avoided, for a large and heavy 

 leaf seldom if ever regains its normal 

 position and erect attitude after it has 

 once drooped. A windy day also causes 

 rapid and excessive transpiration with 

 the same tendency to droop, and water 

 must be supplied liberally. Another 

 ■characteristic is their tendency to break 

 during a wind storm, the enormous 

 leaves being torn into strips, and the 

 ponderous stalks snapping like glass. 



A friend who had watched my plants 

 with interest for some years, thought he 

 could improve on my methods. Accord- 

 ingly he had an enormous hemispherical 

 pond excavated, which was lined 01 faced 

 with concrete, making a magnificent arti- 

 ficial pool. Water was conducted into this 

 pool through four drains, which were 

 embedded in the concrete. The bottom 

 was filled with broken pot sherds, rocks, 

 etc., and a goodly layer of soil over all. 

 While the prospect seemed good, the 

 caladiums did not seem to appreciate this 

 arrangement, evidently getting entirely 

 too much water, and they did not attain 

 to his expectations. The roots want an 

 abundance of water, but they will not 

 tolerate being bathed in it constantly. 



As one hot dav succeeds another, the 



interest in the development of the caladi- 

 ums increases proportionately, for each 

 new leaf vies with its fellows and is not 

 satisfied until it has out-stript them in the 

 race, and towers above them in all its 

 proud and stately glory. From a number 

 of observations taken at different inter- 

 vals I should say the plants average about 

 five inches of growth per week ; this 

 figure, of course, being a mere approxi- 

 mation, for so many factors enter in such 

 a study that an exact figure can not be 

 It may be interesting at this 

 short table showing the 



given 



point to give a 

 heigfht as well 

 the leaves. 



as the size of some of 



