1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



299 



air from underneath, and the Tuberoses are 

 planted out on this. It is necessary to have 

 three or four hot-water pipes underneath the 

 table, and the compost ought to come, if possible, 

 from an old pasture. To every two barrovvs, one 

 barrow of old hot-bed manure is added, the whole 

 being well mixed together, and then placed upon 

 the table to a depth of 5 inches, and well pressed 

 down with the feet to give solidity. The Tube- 

 rose does best on a heavy rich soil. The bulbs 

 are then turned out of the pots, and planted in 

 rows 6 inches apart, and 6 inches from plant to 

 plant, and thoroughly watered with the hose. The 

 plants are well syringed, and, on the first appear- 

 ance of frost, a moderate night temperature of, 

 say, 60° should be maintained. By the 6th of 

 November, the plants will be well established, 

 when the night temperature may be increased 

 to 70°, and abundance of moisture used, 

 the path of the house being flooded at night. 

 Sulphur, worked into the consistency of thick 

 paint, is put on one of the hot-water pipes, 

 as a preventive against red spider, the great 

 enemy of the Tuberose. If the plants have been 

 managed properly, they will commence to flower 

 by the middle of December. At Christmas, they 

 command from £1 to £1 12s. per hundred 

 florets, each plant or bulb producing from thirty 

 to forty florets at these prices. The following 

 practice is usually adopted, and is, I think, the 

 most practicable for the spring crop : — A hot-bed, 

 or better still, a pit, is prepared in a similar way 

 to those for Melon and Cucumber growing in 

 England. As soon as the rank steam is off", 3 

 inches of coal ashes are put on, and the bulbs 

 potted as previously directed, selecting those 

 that are thick at the neck. Some think a very 

 large bulb is best ; but I think those of medium 

 size are preferable. First-class bulbs sell at £10 

 per thousand ; those of second quality, £7 per 

 thousand. The pots are phmged to the rim in 

 the bed, and there is no danger of their rotting 

 from the heat, which they will bear well. Linings 

 are added as soon as the surface heat declines, 

 the night temperature being kept at 60° and the 

 pit covered up well at night, mats and shutters 

 being used; in a month or five weeks, they will 

 have their pots well filled with roots, have dense 

 foliage, and they are then ready for the house. 

 The first crops by this time are gone. Having 

 planted out as before recommended, plenty of 

 water must, as the spring advances, be given to 

 the plants in the bed. Morning and evening a 

 syringing must be given with the hose to prevent 



red spider. Should the plants come near the 

 glass, they must be tied down. Thus treated, 

 they will in part commence to flower by the end 

 of April. The florets sell from 12s. to I63. per 

 hundred, and, by June 1st, they are down to 83, 

 per hundred. Even at these prices I have known 

 £200 made of the plants grown on the centre 

 table of one house, the table measuring 88 feet 

 long by 6 feet wide. — John Howutt, in Garden. 



Euphorbia jacquix^flora. — This being one 

 of the most useful winter-flowering plants, it is 

 now deserving of special attention. Plants 

 struck in the beginning of June should now have 

 made growth at least four feet in height and 

 strong in proportion, with plenty of laterals. If 

 the plants have hitherto grown amongst other 

 stove subjects which required shade, they should 

 be removed at once to a house or pit where they 

 can be fully exposed to the light and sun, and 

 kept as near the glass as possible, with plenty of 

 aid admitted during favorable weather, so that 

 the wood may get thoroughly matured, as on 

 this depends chiefly their successful flowering. 

 The watering of this plant is also a point of im- 

 portance, for if it is allowed to suffer for the 

 want of this element, it will lose all its bottom 

 foliage, which would greatly diminish its eff'ect 

 when in flower. 



One rarely sees this beautiful plant occupying 

 the position it should hold in our stoves. We 

 not unfrequently find it growii amongst the gen- 

 eral collection of stove plants, and sometimes at 

 the north side of the house, and consequently 

 very much shaded. What is the result? A weak, 

 drawn, and not half-ripened growth, with a few 

 miserable flowers at the points instead of fine 

 racemes of orange scarlet, from fifteen to eigh- 

 teen inches in length, which would be the result 

 under better cultivation. 



To grow the Euphorbia well the principle 

 batch of cuttings should be put in, not later than 

 the first week in June. Another batch may be 

 put in later for a succession. The cuttings 

 should be taken off" with a heel, and inserted 

 round the edges of pots filled with peat and sand, 

 plunged in a gentle bottom heat, and kept close 

 and shaded until well rooted, when they should 

 be potted off", " either singly or three or four in a 

 pot," in a compost consisting of fibrous loam, 

 peat, and leaf mould in equal parts, with the ad- 

 dition of some silver sand. The plants should 

 then be well-watered, and again kept close and 

 shaded, till they take root in the fresh soil. 



