BILLBERGIA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
71 
eee 
confine these Bignonias to a single stem 
until they have attained a considerable 
height; consequently they will not require 
the leading shoot stopped, but should be 
encouraged to extend in length. For this 
purpose three or four long sticks should be 
inserted in each pot, round which the 
plants ought to be kept regularly trained, 
but the shoots should not be allowed to 
twine about them so as to make the work 
of undoing them difficult. Through the 
spring and summer encourage growth by 
syringing overhead every afternoon, and 
keeping the atmosphere moistened in very 
bright weather, during which a thin shade 
will assist them. When the roots get well 
hold of the soil give them plenty of water 
and admit air freely, to keep the growth 
strong ; towards the close of summer dis- 
pense with shade and the use of the syringe, 
so as to harden them up. Keep during 
the autumn and winter in an ordinary 
greenhouse temperature, with just enough 
water at the roots to maintain the soil in 
a medium state of moisture. 
Before growth commences in the spring 
they should be turned out into the border 
wherein they are to be grown. This ought 
to be well drained with 5 or 6 inches of 
broken crocks or pounded bricks, over 
which some fibrous material from the soil 
‘should be placed; on this put 10 or 12 
inches of good soil, consisting of a mixture 
of peat, loam, and sand similar to that 
already advised. In planting, a portion of 
the roots, such as are at the outside of the 
ball, should be loosened and spread out in 
the border; in this way they will soon 
begin to grow and occupy it. Syringe 
them regularly overhead every day all 
through the growing season ; on a free use 
of the syringe in this way a good deal of 
success depends, as insects are kept down. 
All the after-treatment required will be to 
keep the shoots trained to the wires that 
are to support them, and, when the space 
they are intended to fill is covered, to 
regularly use the knife, so as to keep them 
in due bounds. In time the soil becomes 
exhausted ; to remedy this, a couple of 
inches should be taken off the surface each 
spring without injuring the roots, and its 
place supplied by new soil, to further assist 
which liberal applications of manure-water 
may be given during the growing season. 
The following varieties are deserving of 
cultivation :— 
B. capreolata. Flowers scarlet, blooms 
in June and following months. It comes 
from North America. 
B. grandiflora. Flowers from July to 
September. This fine species is from 
Caraccas. 
B. speciosa. A pink-flowered plant 
from Uruguay ; blooms in the spring. 
B. Tweediana. A yellow-bloomed kind 
that flowers in the summer. It is from 
Buenos Ayres. 
B. unguis. Orange-coloured flowers ; 
blooms in the autumn. A native of South 
America. 
Insects. —Red spider will live upon 
them, but must be kept under by a free 
use of the syringe. Scale can be kept down 
by frequent use of sponge and brush. 
BILLBERGIA. 
Amongst these South American stove 
Bromeliaceous plants are some very fine 
flowering subjects, which, in general habit, 
partake somewhat of the character of the 
Pine-apple. As in the Pine, their flower- 
spikes are emitted from the centre of the 
plant, but they differ considerably in the 
forms which they assume ; some are quite 
erect, as in the Thyrse-like Billbergia (B. 
thyrsoidea), in which the flowers open 
almost on a level with the intense crimson 
bracts from which they spring, forming a 
dense head of splendidly-coloured inflor- 
escence. In others, like the Morel Bill- 
bergia (B. Moreliana), the flower-spikes 
are loose and open in character, and droop 
elegantly from the centre. Others again, 
like B. polystachya (the many-spiked Bill- 
bergia) have erect spikes, but somewhat 
branched. All the species are easily grown, 
being sufficiently similar in their require- 
ments generally to succeed under the same 
treatment. After they have flowered they 
throw up suckers from the base. These 
should not be taken off too soon, as, 
although they will root when removed in 
a small state, they nevertheless make much 
quicker progress upon the plant which has 
produced them until they get to a moderate 
size, say one-fourth or one-fifth of that of the 
parent plant. They will throw out roots 
at any time of the year, but it is generally 
best to take them off early in the spring 
say about the beginning of March, as in 
that case they have plenty of time to get 
established before autumn. They should 
be slipped off from the stools that have 
produced them just at the point from 
which they spring; those that are near 
the soil will most likely have some roots 
attached, in which case they may at once 
be placed in pots just large enough to hold 
them. Others that have not made any 
roots should have a few of the bottom 
leaves stripped off and be put in pots, one- 
fourth filled with drainage. 
The soil in which they are grown should 
be good turfy loam, sand being added to 
