118 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
COCOS. 
a kindred nature, it cannot bear stagnant 
moisture in the soil. The temperature 
during summer may be kept at from 65° 
to 70° by night, air being given in the day 
when it rises by sun heat to 80°, and the 
house closed in the afternoon while the 
sun is up ; sprinkle overhead at the same 
time with the syringe. As autumn ad- 
vances give more air and less shade, dis- 
continue syringing, and reduce the tem- 
perature, keeping it through the winter at 
about 60° in the night and 5° higher during 
the day, giving considerably less water to 
the soil. Increase the heat 5° at the be- 
ginning of March, and when growth has 
fairly commenced shift the plants into pots 
4 inches larger than those they now occupy, 
using soil ina more lumpy state than before. 
In re-potting do not disturb the roots more 
than can be avoided, but merely remove 
the drainage material from the bottom of 
the balls. As the weather gets warmer 
raise the night temperature to 65° or 70°, 
with a proportionate increase by day, at- 
tend to air and shade as required, and 
again syringe overhead when the house is 
closed in the afternoons. Under such con- 
ditions the plants will grow apace, and 
when the roots have got a good hold of 
the soil they must be liberally supplied 
with water. Most probably a few spikes 
of flowers will make their appearance this 
season, but these are of secondary impor- 
tance, as the aim of the cultivator should be 
to grow the plants to as largea sizeas possible 
during the summer. No attempt should 
therefore be made to move them from the 
stove when in bloom during the present 
season. About July they ought to have 
another shift, this time putting them in 
15 or 16 inch pots, with similar soil and, 
as before, plenty of drainage. Give less 
water for two or three weeks until the 
roots penetrate the new material, after 
which treat in every way as in the early 
part of the summer. As autumn advances 
again reduce the temperature and dispense, 
as before, with the use of the syringe and 
shading ; also maintain a drier condition 
of the atmosphere, and winter them as 
previously. In spring again increase the 
temperature, and give additional water, 
with shade as required. If all has gone 
well, and the plants have made the pro- 
gress which they ought to have done, they 
will begin to push up their flower-spikes 
about the beginning of May, producing 
froin a dozen to a dozen and a half at or 
near the same time. It will be better not 
to move them to cooler quarters until mid- 
summer, as while the spring growth is 
somewhat tender and the nights cold they 
will be liable to suffer in a way of which 
there will be no danger later on in the 
season ;_ the successional flowers which 
they will produce will render them an 
acceptable addition to the conservatory, 
where they may remain up to the end of 
August, being placed again in the stove 
before the weather gets cool. Winter as 
previously, and in the spring, before 
growth has commenced, turn them out of 
their pots and work away as much of the 
soil from the upper portion of the ball as. 
can be done without injuring the roots to 
any extent; regulate the drainage, add 
new soil, and put the plants back into the 
pots out of which they were turned, unless 
there is a desire to grow them on toa very 
large size, in which case they may be 
shifted into others 2 inches larger. Treat 
during the summer as in the preceding 
one, but this season give them a little 
weak, clear manure-water once a week ; 
this will compensate for the want of addi- 
tional root-room. Their autumn and winter 
management should be the same as before, 
in spring removing’ some of the old soil, 
giving fresh material in its place, and 
again assisting them with manure-water. 
When suckers are made they should, as 
they get large enough, be removed and 
struck, as already recommended ; these 
will take the place of the older plants when 
they get shabby in appearance. 
Insects.—The character of the leaves of 
this Cochliostema and the continuous use 
of the syringe during the growing season 
keep down, as a rule, the smaller kinds of 
insects that affect the occupants of the 
stove ; if scale makes its appearance it is 
easily removed by sponging, and mealy 
bug can be washed off by syringing with 
tepid water. 
COCOS. 
A very beautiful and also interesting 
genus of stove Palms, from the fact of one 
of the species, C. nucifera, yielding the 
Cocoa Nut of commerce. In addition to 
this some of the species are so extremely 
elegant in appearance as to be ranked - 
amongst the most select of cultivated plants. 
For propagation and cultivation, see 
Palms, general details of culture. 
C. elegantissima. A remarkably elegant 
species that attains a medium size: the 
leaves are pinnate, the pinne narrow ; the 
stem is slender, and this, combined with 
the plume-lke character of the leaves gives 
the plant a beautiful appearance. From 
South America. 
C. nucifera. The species from which 
the edible Cocoa Nut is obtained. In a 
state of nature it is not usually found far 
