THE PLANT WORLD 119 



The Home Garden and Greenhouse. 



Conducted by F. H. Knowi^ton. 



[The editor of this department will be glad to answer questions of a rele- 

 vant nature, and also to receive short articles on any phase of this subject.] 



Plants from the Philippines. — The editor has received from a friend 

 and correspondent in the Philippines — Mr. D. LeRoy Topping, formerly 

 of Washington — a package of seeds and bulbs, among them the so-called 

 Bouquet Lily, ' ' which is said to be much superior to the Bermuda Lily. 

 These will be tried in our greenhouses, and if we succeed in flowering 

 them the results will be presented in these columns. 



Chrysanthemums. — By the time this number is in the hands of our 

 readers the chrysanthemums intended for next fall's flowers should be 

 rooted and well under way. When taken from the cutting-box they 

 should be potted off in 3- or 4-inch pots and should be shifted from time 

 to time as they demand until they reach the size in which they are to be 

 flowered. The growth of the plants should not be checked, for this 

 hardens the wood and lessens their capacity for blooming. As stated in 

 an earlier number they may be planted out in the ground, on the benches 

 in the greenhouse, or in pots, as the convenience of the grower dictates. 

 If it is desired to grow them to single stems all side branches should be 

 pinched off as soon as they appear, but if a bushy plant is to be produced 

 the terminal bud should be pinched out before the plant is six inches 

 in height. This will start the lateral branches at once, and of these from 

 three to six or eight may be permitted to grow. The disbudding comes 

 later. 



Amorphophallus Simlense. — Last year we secured from a well-known 

 florist a small bulb or tuber of what is called Amo)'phophallus Simlense, 

 an aroid from the Eastern tropics. It did not flower, but sent up a 

 number of handsome palm -like leaves a foot or more in diameter and on 

 petioles two feet long. At the close of summer the leaves died down and 

 the bulb, together with a number of small offshoots, was placed under the 

 greenhouse bench, where they were overlooked until April. When dis- 

 covered the large bulb had sent out a flower-bud that was then six or eight 

 inches long. It was immediately potted and moderately watered, and at 

 the present writing the spathe has nearly doubled in length, but is not 

 mature. Bailey is of the opinion that this is not a true Amorphophallus 

 but is probably an Ariscema. Its development will be watched with in- 

 terest, and if anomalous features are presented they will be presented in 

 our next issue. The genus Amorphophallus contains a number of marvel- 

 ous plants, among them A. Titanum, of Sumatra, which produces a tuber 

 5 feet in circumference, a leaf-stalk 10 feet long bearing a blade often 



