12 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



THE DIEFFENBACHIA. 



BY J. W. SILVEB, 



Head Gardener, The Laurels, Taunton, Somerset. 



N" this genus we have a very interesting class of plants, 

 whicb, considering their bold and ornamental appear- 

 ance, and usefulness for exhibition and the dinner-table, 

 do not receive so much attention as they deserve. They 

 are, moreover, very easily managed, and all who have a 

 stove may, by acting upon the rules that will be laid down, grow 

 them most successfully. The most essential conditions for ensuring 

 well-developed specimens are heat, moisture, and light and open 

 yet moderately rich compost. 



The compost I have found them succeed best in is prepared by 

 well incorporating together equal parts of turfy loam and fibry peat, 

 with an addition of about one-third of nodules of charcoal and silver- 

 sand. The peat and loam must be chopped up in lumps the size of 

 a hen's egg for small plants, and for large specimens it should be 

 much rougher. In either case, the finest of the soil must be sifted from 

 it, as it is quite impossible to grow them in close stuff that will soon 

 run together and become sour. A little leaf-mould may be added 

 with advantage to the compost in which large specimens are potted. 

 Liberal drainage is at all times indispensable, as they require an 

 abundance of water throughout their growing season. An ordinary 

 stove temperature, ranging in summer from 70° to 75° by artificial 

 heat, and by sun heat from 85° to 90°, will suit them well when 

 growing ; in the season of rest from 58° to 65° will be quite sufficient. 

 The most suitable position for the plant, when in vigorous 

 growth, is over an open tank, and the bottom of the pot should be 

 placed as near the surface of the water as they possibly can be with- 

 out actually touching, for none of the stove plants require more atmo- 

 spheric moisture than those under consideration. Erom March until 

 September syringe them overhead two or three times a-day, and also 

 pour water on the floor and walk of the house at the same time, to 

 ensure a thoroughly humid atmosphere. DuriDg the autumn and 

 winter months the supply of moisture, both at the roots and over- 

 head, must be lessened considerably, as it is most injurious to main- 

 tain them in a growing state during that period. At all seasons of 

 the year place them where they will have the benefit of full exposure 

 to light, but they must not be exposed to brilliant sunshine during the 

 summer season, or the foliage will be injured. It is most easy to 

 increase or keep up a stock. Commence by selecting an old leggy 

 plant that has become unsightly, and then take off the top with a 

 sufficient length of the stem to admit of its behig firmly inserted in 

 the soil. It should be potted singly, as the leading shoot invariably 

 makes the best plant, and at ail times a large specimen may be 

 obtained more quickly than from small side-shoots. The remaining 

 part of the stem may be cut into lengths of one joint each, and placed 

 in a light part of the house for two or three days to enable the 



