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Copyright, 1899, by 

 ll.OUIhl.S' PUBLISHING CO., S20-S3S Caxton Building, CHICAGO. 



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Vol. IV. 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, JULY 20, J 899. 



No. 86. 



ALOCASIA. 



[From advance sheets of the Florists' Manual, by 

 William Scott. I 



These beautiful stove plants are 

 grown entirely for the beauty of their 

 leaves. They delight in our hot sum- 

 mers under glass and must not be al- I 

 lowed to go below 60 degrees in the 

 winter months. They require shade , 

 in the bright days of spring and sum- 

 mer, and where the house is heavily 

 shaded they will be greatly benefited 



by a little fire heat at night. In 

 shaded houses during rainy weather 

 and cold nights, even in summer, 

 there is a dampness and stagnation 

 that is very uncongenial to most 

 plants, and exotics in particular 

 should have a little fire heat. 



The compost in which they delight is 

 one-third fibrous peat or Jadoo, one- 

 third turfy loam in coarse lumps and 

 one-third chopped sphagnum, to which 

 add some charcoal. Although the roots 



Alocasia Metallica, 



delight in moisture it must not be 

 stagnant around them, and the pots 

 should be filled within a few inches of 

 the rim with broken crocks. Keep the 

 roots and the potting material well 

 above the edge of the pot and cover 

 the surface of the compost with live 

 sphagnum, in which the young roots 

 thrive. They must be given an abund- 

 ance of water in summer, but much 

 less in winter. It is not only the water 

 they receive on the surface that bene- 

 fits them, but they require a humid, 

 warm atmosphere. 



The best time to increase your stock 

 of alocacias is in the spring by divid- 

 ing the stems or rhizomes, which 

 when first taken off and started 

 should have a close, moist and warm 

 temperature and be away from all 

 draughts of air. A Wardian case on 

 the greenhouse bench with some bot- 

 tom heat is the ideal place. 



The leaves are large, from one to 

 two feet in length. All are beautiful, 

 varying in coloring and markings 

 from the well known A. metallica or 

 cuprea, a dark metallic bronze, to A. 

 longiloba, green with silvery markings. 

 Among the best species and hybrids 

 are those above mentioned and A. hy- 

 brida, A. Jenningsii, A. Johnstonii, A. 

 Sedenii, A. Thibautiana, A. variegata, 

 and many others, all beautiful plants 

 for the private collection. 



ALOYSIA CITRIODORA. 



[From advance sheets of the Florists' Manual, by 

 William Scott.] 



This universally liked plant is com- 

 mercially known the world over as 

 Lemon Verbena. It is classed as a de- 

 ciduous shrub and is the sole repre- 

 sentative of the genus. Where hardy 

 I doubt whether it is quite deciduous. 

 It makes a fine plant when planted 

 against the wall or pillar in the green- 

 house, but it is as a sweet scented 

 plant for our gardens that we most 

 prize it, and every mixed border, and 

 every garden large or small has one or 

 raor.e. The florist finds this a most 



