January 27, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



95 



Achimenes 



When properly treated the achimenes make showy 

 specimens for the greenhouse or conservatory. They 

 may either be grown in pots, pans, or baskets. The 

 accompanying illustration is a basket, the plants being 

 allowed to grow naturally. The achimenes belongs to 

 the natural order of Gesneracese and is allied to the 

 gloxinia. The tubers should be started in a brisk 

 bottom heat, a stove house suiting them well until they 

 commence to flower, when if moved to a cool greenhouse 

 they will continue to blossom for several months. 



In starting old plants they should be shaken out of 

 the old compost and the tubers placed in flats of light, 

 sandy soil. They should be watered sparingly at first 

 until growth appears when a greater quantity may be 

 given. To secure a succession of flowers it is well to 

 start them in batches from January until March. 

 After the young growths have reached the length of an 

 inch or so they should be potted into their flowering 

 pots or baskets, several being put in one poi : say, seven 

 tubers to a six-inch pot, increasing the number accord- 

 ing to the size of the pot or basket used. A good 

 fibrous loam with a liberal mixture of leafmold and 

 sand and a little decayed manure is a good compost. 

 The pots or baskets should be placed as near to the 

 glass as possible to get the best growth taking care to 

 shade them from bright sunshine. 



After flowering commences they may be fed occasion- 

 ally with liquid manure. If grown in a dry atmos- 

 phere they are liable to be attacked with thrips and 

 red spicier and they should have occasional syringing 

 to prevent these pests from getting a hold. After the 



plants have dime flowering they should be placed in a 

 light airy place and dried off gradually until the shoots 

 are thoroughly ripened when these may be cut off and 

 the pots containing the tubers placed on their sides 

 and laid away somewhere where the temperature will 

 not fall below 50 degrees F. No water should be given 

 them all the time they are resting. 



There are many good varieties of achimenes and sev- 

 eral varieties grown together in one basket, taking care 

 to have the different colors blending, make very showy 

 specimens and are usually much admired. 



Dracaenas 



Having read Mr. Mcintosh's article in Horticul- 

 ture, Jan. 6th, on the above subject, I would like to 

 make a few remarks regarding my experience with 

 dracamas. 



With reference to the superior qualities of Dracaena 

 Lord Wolesley over D. terminalis for the private gar- 

 dener or for exhibition purposes there can be little 

 doubt, but florists as a rule still hang to the old variety 

 and the reason they advance is that D. terminalis will 

 stand more rough usage than the newer variety on 

 account of its being tougher in the leaf tissue. 



As to the propagation of dracaenas; while the root 

 and stem cutting method is the best for increasing 

 stock or if only small plants are wanted, yet for 6 to 

 8 in. pots such as florists use generally I am certain that 

 mossing, or placing pots on the top of old plants, is 

 still the better method for getting good exhibition 

 specimens, especially with large-leaved varieties, such 

 as D. Youngii, Baptistii, Andersonii, Shephardii, etc. 

 To cut off the tops of such varieties and insert in a 

 cutting pot means a great check and being checked at 

 this stage causes the young plants to make small 

 leaves when they begin to grow after rooting, a con- 



dition which all good growers try to avoid. Even after 

 the roots are through the moss or first pot another 

 larger pot should be put on with a mixture of soil such 

 as the plants are to be grown on in; then when the 

 roots are well through this the old plants should grad- 

 ually be dried off for a couple of weeks when the tops 

 may be cut off without any fear of a check. This 

 may appear to be a somewhat slow process, but when 

 we consider that a good-sized specimen can be started 

 in this way, it can readily be seen what a handicap 

 there is on the cutting plan. 



Mr. Mcintosh recommends copious syringing of 

 dracaenas, whereas the best specimens the writer has 

 grown were set apart specially by themselves to be out 

 of the way of the syringing, because in my opinion too 

 much water lodges at the base of the petiole, causing the 

 plants in time to lose their bottom leaves. For exhibi- 

 tion plants I would recommend wiping over with a 

 sponge once a month, and keeping plenty of moisture 

 around the plants. If any syringing is done I think it 

 should be a very light spraying, using as little water 

 as possible so that it dues not run down and find lodge- 

 ment at the base of the leaves. 



