1879.] DECORATIVE GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 549 



as its sterling merits deserve. A good, well-bloomed specimen is a 

 sight not easily forgotten. Yet how seldom do we see what may be 

 called a good specimen, or even in how few places do we find it grown 

 at all. This cannot arise from any very great difficulty in th e cultiva- 

 tion of it, as it is no more difficult to manage than the majority of 

 greenhouse plants. As an exhibition plant, when well grown, few 

 things are more telling in a collection. 



We believe that many growers err in coddling it too much, by grow- 

 ing it in heat at certain stages of its growth. A moderate heat for a 

 short time will not do any harm, but it thrives best under cool treat- 

 ment. When thoroughly established, it delights in rich feeding, and 

 well repays any extra care bestowed upon it. Established plants 

 should never be subjected to a higher temperature than about 50° of 

 fire-heat : of course in summer the coolest structures will be much 

 hotter than this, but then there will be air given in proportion. 



This Statice is propagated by cuttings, which should be taken off, if 

 practicable, with a heel, early in spring. They should be potted up 

 singly at once in thumb-pots in a mixture of peat rubbed through a 

 fine sieve and sharp silver sand in equal proportions. Make a hole 

 with the finger, put in the cutting with some pure sand about it, then 

 press all firmly in, water through a fine rose, and plunge the pots 

 up to the rim in a bottom-heat of between 80° and 90°. If they can 

 be covered with a bell-glass for a time so much the better, as it will 

 tend to hasten the rooting process. When they are well rooted, and 

 before getting matted in the pots, they must be shifted into 4-inch pots, 

 using the soil in a rougher state, and a little good fibry loam along with 

 it. The pots would be all the better of being half-plunged in the hot- 

 bed until they begin to take to the fresh soil, when they may be stood 

 on the surface of the bed, and air admitted in moderate quantities at 

 first, so as to gradually harden them off, and render them fit to stand 

 a cooler temperature than they have been enjoying. 



About the beginning of June they will have been sufficiently hard- 

 ened off to stand in a cold pit or frame : if in the latter, see that a good 

 bed of ashes be under them, or set them up on inverted pots, so as to 

 prevent worms from finding their way into them, as they are very 

 injurious to them when they do get in. They will be all the better of 

 a slight sprinkling with water overhead occasionally, and aired freely 

 during the day, at the same time avoiding draughts. 



About the middle of August they may want a shift into larger pots, 

 which may be 6-inch ones, and this will be quite large enough for them 

 the first year. The same kind of soil to be used, only rougher, and 

 some good old cow-dung may be incorporated with it, and a little put 

 over the crocks as well. Keep the flower-stems picked off as they 

 appear, so that all the energies of the plant may be directed towards 

 making a good foundation for the future specimen. They must be 

 carefully watched in regard to watering, so that they may not suffer for 



