328 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



introduce the male plant, before it was successfully accomplished. 

 The hardiness of the Aucuba is established beyond doubt, and the 

 male plants are now plentiful, and all that we have to do is to deal 

 with it in relation to its adaptability for the decoration of the dinner- 

 table. To render the directions that will be given as plain as 

 possible, it is necessary to say that the Aucuba is dioecious — that 

 is to say, some plants bear male, and some female flowers ; and 

 to insure a crop of berries a fair proportion of plants of both 

 sexes must be grown. The pollen from the flowers produced by one 

 male plant will be sufficient to fertilize those of a large number of 

 female plants, if made the most of; but for an amateur not well 

 skilled in the manipulations necessary to make the most of the 

 poller), the males should be grown at the rate of about one to six of 

 the females. 



There are several ways of propagating a stock, but the most 

 desirable way for an amateur to propagate them is by cuttings or 

 layers. For those well skilled in grafting, that way of increasing 

 the stock of any desirable kind is the best that could be adopted. 

 As it is necessary to have stocky specimens, young plants of the 

 common kind raised from cuttings should be selected for stocks, and 

 the grafts put on near the surface of the soil. Cuttings strike best 

 when put in early in the autumn, when the young growth has 

 become firm. In layering, select healthy, vigorous side-shoots, 

 make a slanting cut on the lower side of the stem, about six or 

 nine inches below the point, and peg the shoot firmly into the 

 border, and cover aboxit three inches of the stem with soil. This 

 should be done in the autumn, and the layers taken off when they 

 are well furnished with roots, and put in pots. In all cases use 

 well-drained pots and turfy loam, to which a small proportion of 

 leaf-mould or thoroughly-decayed manure has been added. The 

 pots also should be rather small in proportion to the size of the 

 plants, and the soil be pressed firm. 



The main point we have to consider is the production of good 

 crops of berries, for unless they are well berried, they will not be 

 of any use whatever for the purpose for which they are intended. 

 The best means to secure this desirable end is to grow the plants of 

 both sexes in the same temperature, to insure their both flowering 

 at the same time. If the flowers of either appear likely to expand 

 in advance of the other, the earliest may be retarded by being 

 removed to a lower temperature ; but, in the case of the male 

 flowering first, the pollen may be preserved in a small tin box or 

 tinsel paper until required for use. It may then be applied with a 

 eamel's-hair brush. When the flowers of both expand at the same 

 time, insect agency will accomplish the necessary fertilization. 



There are a large number of varieties now in cultivation, so that 

 there will be no difficulty in selecting six that are really distinct and 

 good. The following selection, without including the most expen- 

 sive, cannot be surpassed : (Males), A. japonica metadata mascula, 

 A. j. viridls mascula; (Females), A.j. lati-maculata, A.j. maculata 

 elegans, A. j. viridis nana, A. j. macrophylla. 



Akdisia. — The beautiful and showy A. crenulata must also have 



