April 30, IBT-l. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIODLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



313 



had been anxiously looked forward to by me, as, I suppoBe, is 

 the case generally with those who are treating new plants for 

 the first time. After a few days the plant was removed to the 

 conservatory, where its blooms continued opening until Sep- 

 tember, up to which time as many as two hundred blooms had 

 expanded. I would particularly wish it to be remarked that 

 the plant remained in this situation as long as I thought it 

 consistent with its safety, and to this I attribute much of its 

 prosperity in the year of which I shall now write. 



Having again replaced it in its old position in the stove, 

 the same treatment was again adopted, and the same care 

 taken to dislodge the water from the axils of the leaves. The 

 plant has continued to thrive under this treatment, and its 

 dimensions at the present time are — height, 4 feet ; breadth, 

 6 feet. It has thirty leaves, some of which measure i! feet 

 C inches in length and 7 inches in breadth, and is now showing 

 fourteen spikes, and I have measured some of them 18 inches 

 long. They are thrown out well from the leaves, the extreme 

 breadth of spike being 10 inches. The spikes, which are just 

 being thrown up, appear to be more vigorous than those ex- 

 panded. I should, perhaps, also say that as many as sixty 

 blooms are showing upon one spike. 



I have made these remarks in the hope that someone may 

 bo induced to write more fully on this beautiful plant. — 

 Thomas Newman, Torry Hill, Si'ttinijhourne. 



STOVE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE.— No. 1. 

 My aim in giving a series of papers consisting of descriptive 

 notes and cultural hints on stove plants, will be to name only 

 the best and most useful for their flowers and foliage. The 

 description of house most suitable is omitted, also temperature, 

 moisture, and ventilation, which are week by week treated of 

 by Mr. Douglas. 



CLIMBERS FOR ROOFS OR EATTEBS. 



As plants for this purpose must necessarily be free-growing, 

 large pots or tubs are required, but as these are cumbrous and 

 take up mnch room, planting in a border is preferable. It 

 should not be less than 2 feet wide, better 3 feet, and 3 feet 

 deep — 9 inches for drainage, and 2 feet 3 inches for compost. 

 I have all round the house a border 3 feet wide and deep. 

 Along the bottom is a drain of 3-inch pipes, and 9 inches of 

 rubble over the bottom of the border, the roughest lowest 

 down and the finer at the top, and above this I have the 

 rough parts of the compost of which the border is formed. 

 The border is made 9 inches higher than the intended level to 

 allow for settling. It should be divided by cross walls, the 

 lowest three courses of bricks pigeon-holed to allow the drain- 

 age to be free the whole length of the border, and taken up to 

 the top solid ; for neatness there may be a stone capping, or 

 the highest course of bricks may be laid in cement. The com- 

 post should be used rough, but the ingredients well mixed and 

 placed in the border rather iirmly, and when in a dry rather 

 than wet state. Holes must be provided in the shelves to 

 admit of the climbers' stems being taken through from the 

 border to the roof, and the subjects should not be planted 

 Tsntil they are of sufficient length to reach through the holes 

 and be secured to the wires. 



Allamanda CATHARTicA. — Evergreen when moisture is given 

 in winter, but if kept dry, as it ought to be, deciduous. Long 

 rather narrow leaves, in whorls along the shoots at rather 

 distant intervals. Flowers bright yellow, trumpet-shaped, 

 about 3 to 4 inches long and 2 inches across the month, pro- 

 duced in bunches abundantly on well-ripened wood in July 

 or earlier, and to September. Guiana. 



A. NOBiLis is very similar to A. cathartica, the leaves some- 

 what broader, and the wood stouter and shorter-jointed. 

 Flowers yellow, wider at the mouth than those of A. cathartica, 

 and in form very superior to them, the broad rounded seg- 

 ments giving the flowers a full circular outhne. It has also 

 the advantage of fragrance. It blooms in July and August 

 onwards. Brazil. 



These are the best two for extensive roof or trellis covering. 

 They are not strictly more than sub-scandent, having no pro- 

 vision for climbing or twining. 



Fnll exposure to light is necessary to secure firm wood and 

 profuse flowering. Pruning should be performed in February 

 or March, cutting-in the side shoots to within two joints of 

 their origin the previous year. Any that are renuired for 

 extension, or to fill-up vacant space, may be cut-back to six 

 joints, more or less, as occasion may render necessary, always 



making sure that the wood is firm and well ripened. Soft un- 

 ripe wood should be cut clean away, as also old bare shoots, 

 and their place supplied with well-ripened shoots of the last 

 season's growth. It is well to depress the shoots that are left 

 of any considerable length, to ensure their breaking regularly 

 from base to top. 



Water should be given sparingly at the roots so as to moisten 

 them gradually, and increase the quantity with the growth. 

 When in full growth and flowering the watering should be 

 liberal, but the plant never dry, otherwise the foliage will 

 suffer. When growth is complete lessen the supply of water, 

 and have the plants at rest by November, from which time np 

 to March no more moisture will be needed than will keep the 

 wood plump. 



Syringe overhead morning and evening up to the flowering 

 period, when syringing should be discontinued, and when 

 breaking in spring the plants ought to be sprinkled overhead 

 three or four times a-day, which is conducive to the eyes 

 breaking well. 



Light fibrous loam three parts, leaf soil one part, half a part 

 sandy peat, and a sixth part each of silver sand and charcoal 

 in lumps from the size of a hazel nut to that of a walnut, 

 well mixed and chopped-up, but not very fine, will grow them 

 perfectly. Good drainage is necessary. Repotting should be 

 done in spring after the plants are pruned and are breaking 

 freely, removing most of the old soil. If the plants are 

 planted out the border should have the surface soil removed 

 down to the roots, replacing it with about 2 mohes thick of 

 fresh material. 



Propagation is effected by cuttings of the shoots, short- 

 jointed wood being best, inserted in sandy soil, plunged in a 

 bottom heat of 80° to 85°, and kept moist and shaded. The 

 thicker parts of the roots, either layered in tan or other moist 

 substance, or cut into lengths of 2 or 3 inches, push shoots 

 and roots freely, and have only to be potted. If layered in tan, 

 cut off the shoots with a portion of root, and grow them on. 

 It is a readier mode of propagation than by cuttings, and 

 the plants so raised are of freer growth. Spring is the best 

 time for root-cuttings, and May and June for cuttings of the 

 shoots. 



Aeistolochia Duchartkei. — Deciduous twiner, with woody 

 corky-barked stems, and ovate-cordate, acuminate, subpeltate 

 leaves. Flowers of only moderate size, produced in tufts from 

 the old wood, brownish outside, creamy within, with shining 

 dark-brown marking, curved tube, concave-ovate Umb. Upper 

 Amazon. 



A. GiGAS. — Deciduous twiner ; woody corky stems, large ovate- 

 eordate leaves, and large whitish-yellow flowers veined with 

 dark brown. Flowers in May and June. Guatemala. 



A. LEUCONEURA. — Sub-arborescent ; cordate whitish-yellow- 

 veined leaves, and curious chocolate-purple yellow-veined 

 flowers proceeding from the stems in summer. 



There are a number of other species — A. grandi flora, with 

 large flowers, Jamaica; A. ornithocephala, the flowers re- 

 sembling a bird's head, and produced at the end of summer, 

 Brazil; A. trilobata, with three-lobed leaves, and purple 

 flowers in June, South America, with several others, all of 

 which have curious flowers and fine leaves. 



The best of the genus is probably A. leuconeura, the leaves 

 being very fine and distinctly marked. All are free in growth, 

 and require to be cut-in to an eye or two of the stem in Feb- 

 ruary or March, leaving some of the well-ripened wood of the 

 previous year, and cutting-back any old stems. The shoots 

 ought not to be much crowded, but trained rather thinly, the 

 object being to have the wood well ripened. 



Water freely while the plant is in growth, and in winter keep 

 it dry. A. leuconeura will retain its leaves if kept moist, and 

 so indeed will others, but it is desirable to rest them, aa they 

 otherwise keep on growing through the winter, and do not 

 grow or flower satisfactorily. Watering or syringing overhead 

 twice daily is very beneficial, as the plants are subject to red 

 spider, which the syringing keeps under. They require a light 

 and airy position. 



For soil use three parts light turfy loam, half a part each 

 leaf soil and sandy peat, with a sixth part silver sand, and a 

 few nodules of charcoal. Good drainage is necessary. Pro- 

 pagate by cuttings of firm young stubby side shoots, in sand 

 over sandy peat and loam, placed in bottom heat and covered 

 with a bell-glass. Some of the scarcer kinds are grafted on 

 stocks of A. gigas, which operation is best performed in spring, 

 with firm wojd, in a close moist frame in the stove or propa- 

 gating hoasa. 



