April 28, 1906 



horticulture: 



551 



well-known numerically than they were years ago. This 

 class of plants require an abundance of water at all 

 times, especially in the growing season; frequent syr- 

 ingings are very beneficial to their well being. Stimu- 

 lating waters are also of great assistance; as they are 

 gross rooters any good standard potting soil will suit 

 them. Low temperatures are more in keeping with 

 their requirements in winter than higher ones, 40 to 45 

 deg. Fahr. being quite high enough. 



Should they ever get sickly and dyspeptic as indi- 

 cated by pale foliage and other signs, planting out in 

 mother earth is the best recuperative method to adopt; 

 in fact this method is to be recommended whether sickly 

 or not, as greater progress in size is made thus in a 

 given time. It is not to be taken for granted, however, 

 that the method is a good one irrespective of condition, 

 for it is necessary ere the plants are turned out, that 

 the root system should embrace the soil so thoroughly 

 as to prevent its dissolution at lifting time in the fall. 



Those enumerated below are comparatively easily 

 rooted with no greater special care than bestowed on 

 the general run of cuttings, excepting A. pubescens 

 which, while not absolutely impossible to root from 

 wood-cuttings is pretty nigh so. It is said that propa- 

 gation from root cuttings of this species is within easy 

 accomplishment although I have not tested this method 

 myself. 



Acacia armata leads the list as the best well-known 

 kind before the public at the present time. A. a. 

 hybrida much resembles the former hut is a more rapid 

 grower and less stiff in habit ; the internodes from leaf 

 to leaf are considerably further apart, the leaves them- 

 selves being longer and less broad. This variety makes 

 a fine specimen bush plant in much less time than the 

 former does. 



A. Baileyana is a comparatively new-comer from 

 Australia and is one of the earliest to flower, being in 

 flower somewhere around Christmas: it is graceful and 

 airy in habit of growth, producing long, slender, wil- 

 lowy twigs clothed at the proper time with fluffy 

 globose yellow flower-heads. 



A. Drummondii is. in my opinion, the poor of all the 

 acacias as a bushplant. It looks its best trained in 

 pyramid form, and when well done is a gem of the 

 first water for anv purpose. It is especially telling for 

 table and other small decorations when but one and a 

 half to two feet tall, and equally effective and grand 

 in specimens four times the latter size with propor- 

 tionate width. Clad in its clear canary yellow eatkin- 

 like inflorescence the most refined table cannot help 

 being charmed. 



A. heterophvlla is an exceedingly graceful kind when 

 once formed. It roots readily, and attains small dec- 

 orative plants in two to three years under attentive 

 care. It appears the prettiest when trained to a bush 

 plant on a few feet of clean stem, over-topped with the 

 azalea semiglobular type of head. It should be cut back 

 severely annually after flowering in order to enable it 

 to push forward a sheaf of its willowy growth for the 

 ensuing year's flowerings. 



A. pubescens is so well known that detailed descrip- 

 tion would seem superfluous, yet how few commercial 

 or, for that matter, private establishments possesses it. 

 It is less well-adapted to small decorative plants than 

 others as its habit of growth is sprawling and drooping. 

 To illustrate to best advantage the pre-eminent elegance 

 of this kind, the high standard open-umbrella shape 

 method of culture is unquestionably the one to bring 

 this about; the higher the standard the grander it will 

 appear. Six feet of a clean stem is a good height, but 

 seven feet is better. A well formed, massive head over- 



topping any of those stems, when in flower, is indescrib- 

 ably beautiful. 



A. cultriformis is another very fine species, and easily 

 handled; flowers deep yellow in crowded terminal 

 racemes; stiff and somewhat formal in manner of 

 growth but withal pliable for any desired shape. 



7^<%~^ 



Jfr*- 



Culture of the Cyclamen 



ii. 



The young seedlings should be getting crowded in 

 the boxes by this time, so the first potting ought to be 

 attended to or the plants will become drawn. For the 

 first potting we use 3 l-'i and 4 inch pots, as smaller 

 sizes are liable to get dry in spite of the most careful 

 attention, and besides the young plants ought to lift 

 with a ball large enough to comfortably fill a 4 inch 

 pot. The soil should be one-half turfy loam, one-fourth 

 well decayed manure, the remaining fourth to be com- 

 posed of leaf mould, sand and firm charcoal, this com- 

 post having feeding elements and still being very por- 

 ous. 



A very important point is the manner of potting. 

 Plants that are potted loosely grow larger, but will have 

 that straggly appearance so often seen, one leaf stalk 

 longer than the other, and the flowers, unless they get 

 artificial support, will, with the first handling, very 

 likely hang over the edge of the put. Artificial sup- 

 porting of cyclamen we detesi to see. On the other 

 hand, too firm potting retards the growth, so we should 

 aim at a moderate degree of firmness and the plants 

 will lie compact and the flowers -land on their own legs. 

 Growers might experiment a little on this, it being verj 

 interesting to mite tin- different finish the plants will 

 have with the differenl methods id' potting. 



Old plants that are past flowering and intended to be 

 grown on for another year should lie cleaned of all de- 

 cayed leaves, obi flowers and seed pods, and given a 

 shift into larger puts, using the same compost as before 

 mentioned. They probably will not make much growth 

 for a month or two. but they will be making roots and 

 will be more likely to start when the season arrives. 



Any plants that arc badly infested with that trouble- 

 some little mite so prevalent among cyclamens, ought 

 to lie discarded, as no cure has been found for it so far. 

 Fumigating and spraying is of no avail unless done so 

 strong as to injure the plants; dipping in a strong so- 

 lution of fir tree oil will keep them in check, but dip- 

 ping is a laborious undertaking to those wdio have any 

 number of plants. The old maxim has "prevention 

 better than cure." so we would advise fumigating the 

 house with hydrocyanic gas before putting the young 

 plants in, then keep a good layer of tobacco stems 

 among them to be renewed al intervals, and we feel sure 

 that insects of anv kind will give no trouble whatever. 



