138 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
CYRTOCERAS. 
light, but not much sun, until they have 
become more fully established, when they 
should be removed to 5 or 6 inch pots. 
It will succeed in either peat or loam, but 
we prefer the latter when it can be had of 
good quality with plenty of turfy fibre in 
it. Whilst the plants are small, it should 
be broken fine; add about one-sixth of 
sand, according to the nature of the loam, 
and drain the pots well, as the plant cannot 
endure stagnant water. This Cyrtoceras 
does not make a large quantity of roots; 
consequently it must never be overpotted, 
and care should be taken not to give too 
much water, especially until the soil has 
got well filled with roots. As soon as they 
have started fairly into growth, the points 
of the shoots ought to be taken out to 
cause them to break, as it has a natural 
tendency, if not checked, to extend without 
branching sufficiently. During the summer 
the night temperature should be kept 
about 70°, and air with a thin shade given 
in the daytime when the heat rises to 
80° ; syringing overhead in the afternoons 
will assist growth. Continue the above 
treatment until the weather begins to get 
cooler; then discontinue the use of the 
syringe, as also shading, giving more air 
and less water to the soil. Through the 
winter a night temperature of 60° will be 
sufficient, keeping the plants in the lightest 
and driest part of the stove. About the 
beginning of February give them 5° more 
heat in the night, with a corresponding 
increase in the day, but do not repot until 
the roots have got well into motion; and 
as one shift in the season will be quite 
sufficient, it is well not to move them till 
April, when they should be put into pots 
3 inches larger, now using the soil in a 
little more lumpy state. 
Tie the branches well out, bending them 
down close to the rim of the pot—this will 
have the effect of causing young shoots to 
push up from the collar ; at the same time 
pinch out the points of those existing. As 
the weather gets warmer increase the 
night temperature to 70° and _propor- 
tionately more in the day, with a little 
shade, damping overhead when the house 
is closed. All that will be requisite during 
the summer will be a continuance of the 
treatment recommended. Most likely a 
few flowers will be produced by the 
strongest shoots, but it will not be advisable 
to move them out of the stove, as the 
object will be to get them to make as much 
growth as possible. In the course of the 
summer the tops of the strongest shoots 
may be tied down; this will still further 
induce them to break back, and at this 
stage of their growth will be found more 
effectual than stopping, which latter opera- 
tion does not always cause this plant to. 
branch out several shoots as in the case of 
the majority of things. Treat through the 
autumn and winter as before. Again in 
spring give more heat as the advancing 
season demands it, and move into pots 3. 
inches larger, tying the branches well out 
so as to leave the plants quite open in the 
centre to still further induce the formation 
of young growth from the base. This. 
Cyrtoceras is one among a number of 
subjects that require especial treatment in 
this respect, for if left to its own course it 
would spire up to a considerable height 
and become naked at the bottom; whereas 
if the strong shoots are kept well tied out, 
the position to which they are thus bent 
causes them annually to produce fresh 
growth from the bottom, which takes the 
place of any branches that become denuded 
of leaves at the base and which should be 
removed. If the progress made is satis- 
factory, the plants will this summer bloom 
freely, each shoot producing a number of 
their epaulette-like bunches of flowers. 
After the flowers are formed it is better not 
to syringe overhead, as this sometimes has. 
the effect of causing them to drop off. 
The subsequent treatinent of the plants 
will require to be similar to that so far 
advised. When grown to their full size, 
13 or 14 inch pots are, as a rule, large 
enough for them. After they are fully 
developed they should be turned out of, the 
pots each spring, the drainage examined, 
and such of the upper portion of the soil 
as is not occupied by roots should be re- 
moved and replaced with new. When 
they have arrived at a size such as we now 
suppose them to be, they will be much 
benefited, during the summer, by liquid 
manure once a week, but in using it for 
this and similar spare-rooted plants it must 
never be given either so strong or in such 
quantities as for naturally robust growers ; 
it is even necessary to be careful never to- 
apply water at all until the soil is some- 
what drier than in the case of most stove: 
plants, or destruction of the roots will, 
sooner or later, be the result, especially 
during the winter, when no growth is 
progressing. We may add that when this 
plant is thus injured at the roots it has not 
the power to recuperate itself, like many 
others. 
InsEcts.—The leaves of this Cyrtoceras. 
are of too tough and leathery a nature to 
be much hurt by the attacks of such 
insects as thrips, aphides, or red spider, 
except when these are allowed to get 
to a considerable head; yet the insects 
will live upon them, especially if the 
