338 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
TRACHELOSPERMUM, 
as obtainable about July, using good stout 
pieces of the extremities 5 or 6 inches in 
length ; if these are put singly in 3-inch 
pots drained and three-parts filled with 
fine peat and sand, the remainder all sand, 
kept moist, shaded, and close in a propa- 
gating frame or under a_bell-glass, in 
moderate stove heat, they will soon make 
roots. Then give more air, keep them 
through the autumn and winter in an 
intermediate temperature, and supply 
enough water to the soil to keep the roots 
slowly moving. In March give 6 or 7 inch 
pots, using soil similar to that in which 
they were struck, and pinch out the points 
of the shoots. Through the spring and 
summer keep them in a growing atmo- 
sphere with a moderate amount of air, and 
a little shade when sunny ; syringe over- 
head at closing time. Two or three sticks 
will be required round which to train the 
shoots as they extend ; beyond this nothing 
will be needed but the same treatment 
through the autumn and winter that they 
received in the last. Pot about the end of 
March, giving them a 2 or 3 inch shift 
according to the strength and quantity of 
their roots. The plant will succeed in 
either peat or loam, but we prefer the 
former, as it will induce quicker growth, 
and in it the leaves have a darker, more 
healthy tint, which adds much to the 
general appearance, especially when in 
bloom, the dark glossy green Myrtle-like 
foliage forming a good background for the 
flowers., Let the soil be of a good fibrous 
description, and from the first be used in a 
moderately lumpy state, as the roots are 
naturally strong. Add enough sand to 
keep it open, and drain the pots sufficiently. 
When the potting is completed put half-a- 
dozen sticks 3 feet long in the new soil just 
inside the rims of the pots. Round these 
train the shoots, at the same time pinching 
out the points to cause the production of 
an increased number of growths, for al- 
though really a climbing plant, and as such 
not necessarily requiring so much stopping 
as if it possessed a shrubby habit, enough 
shoots should be formed to furnish the 
trellis which the plants will ultimately 
require. Place them in a house or pit, if 
such is available, where there is a night 
temperature of 50°, with a rise of 10° in 
the daytime. This will answer well for 
them, and so treated they will make much 
greater progress than if grown cooler ; do 
not give much water at first until the 
roots have got possession of the new soil. 
Syringe the plants overhead every after- 
noon, and close the house at the same time ; 
as solar heat increases the temperature 
they are subjected to may be propor- 
tionately raised. Very little shade will be 
required except for a few hours in the 
middle of the day in very bright weather ; 
give plenty of light, or the growth will 
become too much elongated and weak. 
The shoots as they grow must be kept 
regularly trained round the sticks—never 
bring the points too low down, but allow 
them to retain an upright position ; a con- 
tinuance of this treatment will be all that 
is needed through the summer, enough air 
being admitted in the middle of the day. 
By the middle of September discontinue 
syringing, and give more air with a drier 
atmosphere to discourage further progress 
and ripen up the growth. 
Through the winter the plants will do in 
any house or pit where the temperature is 
kept at 35° in the night, giving just as 
much water to the soil as will keep the 
roots slightly moist. Again, in the spring, 
about the same time, remove into pots 4 or 
5 inches larger, using similar soil. Uneoil 
the shoots from the sticks, replace these 
with others longer and thicker that will 
support the increasing weight of the shoots, 
and train regularly as before. It is not 
advisable to use a wire trellis until the 
season following ; if the shoots are not 
sufficiently numerous, or there is an ap- 
pearance of their extending too far, so as to 
be deficient near the base, again shorten 
the leaders. Treat through the spring and 
summer as in the preceding season, as 
before giving less water and more air in 
the autumn. We have said nothing about 
flowering during this summer, although the 
plant is such a free bloomer that it will 
have produced its bunches at almost every 
joint ; but as the object will be to induce 
as much growth through the season as 
possible, the treatment when in flower 
should have been such as to keep them on 
growing. 
Keep through the winter in a tempera- 
ture such as in the last, and repot again in 
the spring, giving a shift of 3 or 4 inches, 
in proportion to the quantity of roots the 
plants have got. As before, take them off 
the sticks round which the shoots have 
been trained ; they will now be large 
enough to cover a moderate-sized wire 
trellis, some 2 feet in diameter by 24 feet 
high above the pot; over this train the 
shoots regularly from the base to the top, 
and place them in a temperature similar to 
that to which they have each preceding 
spring been submitted if they are required 
early in bloom—if not they may be kept 
5° cooler. When the flowers are about to 
commence expanding they can be moved 
to a conservatory, or any house where they 
will not be kept at much above an ordinary 
