1880.J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



137 



THEIMANDEVILLA SUAVEOLENS. 



HY MR. C. K. PARNELL, 

 (.ARDENKR TO W. D. F. MAXICE, Esq., QUEENS, L. I., N. Y. 



In the Gardener's Monthly for February 

 1880, page 44, Mrs. S. E. P. inquires as to the 

 best method of cultivating and flowering Mande- 

 villa suaveolens. It should be remembered that 

 in its native country the Mandevilla attains a 

 growth of over forty feet in length, and there- 

 fore it cannot be grown and flowered in pots to 

 any great perfection. Although I do not culti- 

 vate the Mandevilla as a pot plant now, 1 have 

 grown and flowered it very well, and my method 

 of treating it as a pot plant may be of benefit to 

 Mrs. S. E. P. About the middle of April I turn 

 the plant out of its pot, and remove the greater 

 part of the soil, and also cut back some of the 

 roots, if there happens to be many of them. I 

 then repot it in the same pot, using ordinary 

 potting soil with a good portion of well rotted 

 stable manure, and then place it in a warm light 

 place, and water carefully until it commences to 

 grow. About the 10th of May I plunge it out of 

 doors to a trellis, and at the same time I form a 

 basin around the pot so that it can be watered 

 when necessary. This basin I fill with coarse 

 stable manure, — this prevents the plant from 

 becoming dry so soon after it is watered. After 

 it is plunged it requires a bucket or two of water 

 once a week, and the branches must be looked 

 over occasionally and tied up, as they are liable 

 to be broken off" by the wind while young. If it 

 grows as it should it will commence to bloom 

 about the middle of July, and continue until 

 frost. After the first light frost take up the pot, 

 cut off all weak and unripe wood, and place it in 

 the green house. It can also be placed under 

 the shelf, if care be taken not to let it get too 

 wet ; if allowed to get too wet it will rot. It can 

 be wintered very well in a warm dry cellar with 

 a little attention. My plant was in a sixteen- 

 inch pot, and was over twelve feet in length 

 after being cut back, and was repotted every 

 Spring. But when planted out in a well-pre- 

 pared border in the greenhouse, the soil com- 

 posed of ordinary potting soil with a good por- 

 tion of well-rotted stable manure. When the roots 

 as well as the branches are allowed to ramble at 

 will, there the Mandevilla will be seen in all its 

 beauty, laden with large bunches of snow-white, 

 delicious scented flowers. The Mandevilla re- 

 quires considerable space to run over, as it is of 

 exceedingly rapid growth, and the young shoots 



should on no account be stopped. It commen- 

 ces to grow about the end of March and flowers 

 from July to October. After it has ceased 

 flowering, all the weak and unripened wood 

 should be cut out, but all the strong and well- 

 ripened wood should be left. While growing, it 

 requires an abundance of water, and should re- 

 ceive a good watering of liquid manure water at 

 least once a week. The Mandevilla is unfortu- 

 nately very subject to the red spider and the mealy 

 bug, and in planting, it should be placed in such a 

 position that it can be freely syringed, which 

 should be done every other evening, at least 

 during the summer months. The Mandevilla 

 belongs to the natural order Apocynacese, and 

 is a native of Buenos Ayres, from which country 

 it was introduced by H. J. H. Mandeville. 



STEAM HEATING. 



BY JOSIAH SALTER, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



In looking through the Monthly for Feb- 

 ruary, I read, with much attention, the article by 

 R. G. Parker & Co., Boston, Mass., on heating 

 greenhouses, etc., by steam ; and being always 

 deeply interested in anything pertaining to hor- 

 ticulture and floriculture, and especially in any 

 efficient and economical method of heating hor- 

 ticultural buildings of any description, I thought 

 perhaps for the purpose of eliciting further in- 

 formation, for my own, and, may be, the edifica- 

 tion of others, I would venture a few remarks, 

 and give you some of my ideas about the subject 

 for what they are worth ; you can publish 

 such as you think is worth while, or not any, as 

 you may deem best. 



Mr. Parker says : " We have about 10,000 

 square feet of glass, which is heated by a twenty- 

 eight horse power steam boiler," etc. I think 

 Mr. Parker should state the number of cubic 

 feet of air to be heated, rather than the square 

 feet of glass, as one house covered with 10,000 

 square feet of glass may contain four, or forty 

 times as many cubic feet of air to be heated, as 

 another of the same superficial area. 



" Being somewhat afraid of heating wholly by 

 steam, we laid 4-inch pipes, the same as for hot 

 water, and connected with cast iron heaters or 

 boxes filled with steam pipes, which were con- 

 nected with the boiler. The steam passes from 

 the boiler through the pipes in the heaters and 

 back to the boiler again. The 4-inch pipes are 

 filled with water, as is also the space around 

 the steam pipes in the heaters." So that the 

 house is really heated by hot water, and not by 



