PETUNIA. 
for growing in small pots for standing 
about in the stove or Fern house, where 
their prettily-marked variegated leaves are 
seen to advantage. They strike readily 
from bits of the shoots, or from single 
joints with a leaf attached; if these are 
prepared in spring and put 1 inch or 2 
inches apart in good-sized pans filled with 
silver sand, kept warm, a little moist, not 
wet, and shaded from the sun, they will 
root readily ; they must not be confined in 
a propagating frame or under a glass, for if 
so treated, they are very liable to rot. 
When sufficiently rooted move them to 
3-inch pots filled with sandy peat or good 
loam, placing them where they will get 
plenty of light ; keep the soil in a healthy 
state as to moisture, but not so wet as it 
should be for many stove subjects. <A 
temperature that will answer for the 
generality of stove plants, say 64° to 66° in 
the night, and 75° or 80° by day during 
the summer, will suit Peperomias, giving 
air and shade in the heat of the day. By 
July they will want putting into pots a 
size or two larger, the treatment being as 
hitherto until September ; then give more 
air with less moisture in the atmosphere, 
and dispense with shading. A heat of 
about 60° will answer through the winter ; 
they will require moving to 7-inch or 
8-inch pots in the spring, giving the most 
room to the strongest growers. Those 
that are to be grown in baskets may be 
placed several together, according to the 
size of the baskets to be filled ; they do 
well hung up where they can have an 
abundance of light, with just enough shade 
to keep the leaves from getting discoloured 
by the sun. When the plants get shabby 
they may be shortened in, which will 
cause them to break back, and in this way 
their heads can be renewed, or, if preferred, 
young stock can be grown up to take the 
place of the old. 
The following are worth growing :— 
P. argyrea variegata. This has oval 
leaves, red leaf-stalks, and the margins of 
the leaves are broadly banded with white. 
P. microphylla. A Mexican species, 
with trailing shoots that branch freely ; 
the leaves are obovate. 
P. nummulariefolia. This species is of 
a trailing habit and the leaves are nearly 
round ; it makes a pretty basket plant. A 
native of the West Indies. 
P. prostrata. This also is suitable for a 
hanging basket; the leaves are almost 
round and prettily variegated. 
P. Verschaffeltu. Adwarf-growing species; 
leaves cordate in form ; deep green, with 
white bands running longitudinally ; of 
compact habit. It comes from Brazil. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
275 
Insects.—Thrips and red spider some- 
times gain a footing on Peperomias if the 
atmosphere is too dry, but with attention 
to syringing and sufficient care to see that 
the water gets well to the undersides of 
the leaves, they can easily be kept down. 
‘PETRAA. 
In these we have a small genus of ever- 
green stove plants, well adapted for grow- 
ing as climbers. They are not so much 
grown as their distinct character entitles 
them to be. 
The method of propagation is by shoot 
cuttings, which if put in in a brisk heat 
during spring, and subjected to the usual 
conditions of moisture and shade under a 
propagating glass, will strike ; when they 
are well rooted place them singly in 3 or 4 
inch pots, after which keep them in a 
moderate stove heat, giving larger pots 
about the end of June. They should be 
shaded slightly in bright weather, but have 
plenty of light and a moderate amount of 
air when they begin to move freely ; 
syringe them daily until autumn, when 
keep cooler on through the winter. In 
the spring, if to be grown in pots, they 
should have a liberal shift, if to be planted 
out they must have a well-prepared bed, 
with an extra amount of drainage ; the soil 
should not be too deep, 8 or 9 inches is 
enough ; good turfy peat with some rotten 
manure and a liberal addition of sand will 
suit them. 
The following are desirable kinds :— 
P. erecta. A shrubby species that readily 
adapts itself to clothing a pillar. The 
flowers are blue, and usually appear about 
the middle of summer. From South 
America. 
P. rugosa. This is also a scandent shrub, 
alike suitable for using as a climber. A 
summer-blooming, blue-flowered species 
from the Caraccas. 
P. volubilis purpurea. A twining-habited 
kind with beautiful purple and blue 
flowers. A Mexican species. 
InsEects.—Red spider is often trouble- 
some on these plants during summer if 
they are not kept freely and regularly 
syringed ; for aphides fumigate. 
PETUNIA. 
Greenhouse evergreen herbaceous plants. 
In recent years they have been so much 
improved by the careful selection of seed- 
lings that have sprung from the original 
South American species introduced in the 
early part of the present century, that a 
good strain of seed may be depended upon 
