ABUTILON. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
15 
Boule de Neige, is one of the most lovely 
flowers grown, possessing the advantage of 
blooming in a very small state ; plants of 
this sort, in 4 or 6 inch pots, flower from 
the axil of every leaf. 
Abutilons are easily propagated in spring 
from cuttings of the young wood, if taken 
off when some 4 or 6 inches in -ength—if 
with a heel all the better ; insert these in 
sand in small pots placed in a temperature 
of 60°, and covered with a bell-glass. Here 
they will soon make roots, and should then 
be moved into 6 inch pots. They will suc- 
ceed in either peat or loam, but with these, 
as with most other free-growing plants, 
peat has a greater tendency to promote 
leaf-growth than loam has, and 1t is not 
well to encourage too much development 
in the foliage. This should rather be re- 
stricted, as foliage, when present in too 
great quantity, is prejudicial to free- 
flowering. Let the loam be of good 
quality, and mix with it enough sand to 
keep the whole in an open, healthy state ; 
if, whilst they are in the younger stages of 
their growth, a little leaf-mould is added, 
it will assist them. As soon as they begin 
to grow, pinch out the points so as to in- 
duce them to break back. The free-root- 
ing disposition of the plants will cause 
them to soon require more room ; they must 
have larger pots before the roots become 
matted. By midsummer they will need 
moving. The stronger growers will bear 
a 4 inch shift, using the loam in lumps as 
large as pigeon’s eggs; but at this potting 
add no leaf-mould, as they will flower 
more freely without it. Stop the points a 
second time, and keep them well syringed, 
both on the upper and under sides of the 
_ leaves, every afternoon ; place them where 
they will be fully exposed to the light. 
They will require only a very slight shade 
for a few hours in the middle of the day 
in the hottest weather. After they have 
again broken into growth the shoots will 
flower as soon as they acquire strength 
sufficient. As the autumn approaches 
they will show signs of going to rest, and 
must not receive much water. During 
the winter keep them in a temperature of 
not lower than 45° in the night; by the 
beginning of March they should be kept a 
little warmer, and when growth has com- 
menced they can be moved into larger 
pots—13 or 14 inches diameter will not be 
too much if large specimens are wanted. 
When Abutilons are required to be 
grown as trained plants their natural 
disposition to spire up. must be counter- 
acted by regularly stopping and opening 
the shoots well out; so managed they 
make good decorative plants for the con- 
servatory, and, as such, are very useful. 
After flowering they may be put anywhere 
where a temperature such as advised for 
the preceding winter can be maintained, 
and here allowed to remain until the 
spring. Then they should be cut close in, 
the heads reduced to within a foot or 15 
inches of the pots, and, as soon as they 
have made a little growth, turned out of 
the pots; one-third of the soil should be 
removed and replaced with new, and the 
plants treated through the summer as 
before. 
If the plants are required for the purpose 
of covering a wall, they may at once be 
placed where they are intended to be 
grown, and either planted out or kept in 
pots as deemed advisable for best attaining 
the object in view. Ifa large space has to 
be covered it will be better to plant out in 
a border prepared by, in the first place, 
sufficiently draining the bottom with a 
few inches of broken bricks, or something 
similar; over these place some suitable 
material, such as pieces of fibrous turf, on 
which put the soil, like in character to 
that advised for pot culture. Turn out the 
plants in this, making the soil firm round 
the ball, and at the same time training the 
branches so as best to effect the covering of 
the allotted space. Nothing further will 
be required than to attend to training and 
stopping, with a regular use of the syringe 
to keep in check spider, which they are 
subject to. A portion of the shoots will 
require shortening back at different lengths 
each spring, which will cause their break- 
ing into fresh growth, so as to keep the 
whole space regularly furnished with 
young flowering wood; if this is not 
attended to, the bottom will get bare and 
destitute of both leaves and flowers. For 
clothing a pillar or rafter when the room 
to be occupied is somewhat limited, it is 
well to confine the roots to a pot, as, so 
managed, their naturally vigorous dispo- 
sition is kept in bounds. For the purpose 
here under consideration the plants will 
not need stopping so early, but should be 
kept to a single stem until they have 
attained the height where they are wanted 
to branch out. For such uses as these 
they ought to be grown in not less than 15 
inch pots; into these they may be trans- 
ferred from 8 or 10 inch ones in the spring. 
The drainage must be ample, and well 
secured against the washing of the soil into 
it by the large quantities of water required 
through the summer. Keep them as they 
advance in growth well but not too closely 
trained in the places they are wanted. to 
fill, and regulate the stopping according to 
the number of shoots requisite to furnish 
