178 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
FRANCISCEA, 
most flowers. The peat should be of good 
quality, containing plenty of undecomposed 
vegetable fibre. For the first potting, 
break the soil into bits the size of acorns, 
and add one-sixth of clean sand ; drain the 
pots sufficiently, and press the soil mode- 
tately firm. Pinch out the points, at the 
same time bending the leading shoot down 
in a horizontal position, which will cause 
more of the latent back-buds to break than 
would otherwise happen if the principal 
growth was allowed to remain upright. 
They will grow in an intermediate tem- 
perature, but make more progress if kept 
through the summer at 70° during the 
night, with 10° or 15° higher in the day- 
time. Do not allow the shading to remain 
over them when the sun is not out; for 
although, as already stated, they cannot 
bear direct sunshine, the leaves, if grown 
with insufficient light, will be soft and 
deficient in substance, light being indis- 
pensable to vigorous health. Give air in 
the early part of the day, but close suf- 
ficiently soon to cause the temperature to 
rise for an hour or two up to 90°, syringing 
overhead at the same time. They are free- 
rooting subjects, and by the middle of 
July will require another shift, into pots 
3 inches larger; at the same time pinch 
out the points of the shoots and tie them 
out so as to keep the plants open ; in other 
respects treat them as before, and supply 
them with plenty of water at the roots. 
By the beginning of September they should 
have more air, and the shading be decreased 
but not altogether dispensed with until 
the sun has less power. Though the dif- 
ferent species will through the winter do 
with a temperature of from 45° to 50°, it 
will, in the early stages of their growth, be 
advisable to keep them warmer, as the 
object will be to get them on in size. A 
temperature of 55° will be a suitable heat 
for them until the end of February, when 
it may be raised 5°. In March again give 
them a shift into pots from 4 inches to 6 
inches larger, according to the kinds, the 
smaller varieties, such as F. Hopeana, F. 
eximia, and F. Lindenii not requiring 
nearly so much room as the stronger- 
growing F. confertiflora and F. calycina. 
A 12-inch or 13-inch pot is large enough 
for a full-grown specimen of F. Hopeana, 
which is the smallest ; whereas F. conferti- 
flora, when at its full size, will need one 16 
inches or 18 inches in diameter. In other 
respects, as to soil, temperature, shade, and 
moisture, similar treatment will answer 
for all. Again pinch the points of the 
shoots, tying them out, so as to well furnish 
the base of the plants down to the rims of 
the pots. As the season advances increase 
19 
the temperature as before, and give shade, 
air, and moisture as in the preceding 
summer. By the middle of June they will 
again require stopping, after which the 
treatment will be of a routine description. 
They will make good decorative plants the 
coming spring, and to afford a succession it 
will be necessary to make a difference in 
the time during which some are allowed to 
remain in heat after the last stopping. As 
soon as the shoots have attained their full 
length, which may be looked for in Sep- 
tember, a portion of the plants ought to be 
at once moved to a cool house, where they 
should have a moderate amount of air, but 
be slightly shaded when the sun is bright, 
as even at this time of the year, when its 
power is fast waning, the leaves will be 
much better not exposed to its full in- 
fluence. The remaining portion of the 
plants may be allowed to remain in heat 
some weeks longer until the flower-buds 
are quite visible, when they also should be 
moved to cooler quarters ; give them less 
water, but at no time must they be kept so 
dry as many things require to be, or the 
large-leaved ones will be found to flag when 
air is given them, and the foliage will be 
injured. They should be kept through 
the winter at from 45° to 50°. A lower 
temperature than this they do not lke, 
and anything above it will bring them into 
flower too early in the spring. The plants 
that were allowed to stay the longest in heat 
until their bloom-buds were formed will 
go on increasing them in size during the 
winter, and will flower the earliest, the 
time being easily regulated by giving them 
more or less warmth. Those that were 
first taken out of heat will make little 
progress until the days begin to lengthen, 
when the increased solar warmth will 
cause the buds to swell. They will keep 
gradually, but slowly, increasing in size 
until they expand. Plants thus managed 
may be kept, placed in a north house at 
the end of April, to bloom in July ; in 
all cases shading when the sun is bright, 
even as early as the beginning of March. 
In their ability thus to set flowers in 
a lower temperature than that in which 
they have been grown they differ from 
most plants. After blooming they should 
have their shoots cut back, so as to keep 
them bushy. If not shortened in each 
season before they are started into growth, 
they would soon get into a loose, straggling 
condition. Again place them in heat ; 
although they do not require it, they will 
while growing bear as high a temperature 
as most plants. As soon as they have 
broken into growth they will require re-~ 
potting ; give a shift proportionate to the 
