STOVE, OR TROPICAL HOUSE VINES 157 
from time to time will help matters considerably, 
but the solution must be weak. The plants 
enjoy the heat and moisture of a stove house, 
but will endure a drop in temperature to 60° 
at night during the growing season. They 
should be sprayed twice a day during that 
period. 
The flowering period of the family is much 
shorter than that of most vines and its members 
take a long rest. They can be forced earlier 
by drying the plants well in September and 
starting them into growth about January 1, 
instead of six weeks later, as is the usual course. 
There are two distinct groups of the birth- 
worts— one evergreen, the other deciduous. 
The former requires very little pruning, just the 
removal of the very weakest growths; nordoes the 
deciduous type require severe treatment. In 
early spring, before growth starts, it will be suffi- 
cient to remove the very weak and poor shoots. 
For a warm house that you do not shade, the 
mountain rose (Antigonon leptopus) makes an 
excellent subject. It requires abundance of 
light but will then produce freely its pretty, 
pink flowers which are much appreciated by honey 
bees. In the warm South, the mountain rose 
is largely grown on that account and is regarded 
