86 GARDENING INDOORS AND UNDER GLASS 
and Kaleidoscope are the two kinds best suited for 
house culture. 
The Rubber (Ficus.) This is the most popular 
of all formal decorative plants. At least part of 
the secret of its success undoubtedly lies in the 
fact that— almost literally — you cannot kill it! 
But that is no excuse for abusing it either, as there 
is all the difference in the world between a well 
cared for symmetrical plant and one of the semi- 
denuded, lop-sided, spotted leaved plants one so 
frequently sees, and than which, as far as ornamenta- 
tion is concerned, an empty pot would be far more 
decorative. 
The rubber requires—and deserves—a good 
rich soil, and in the spring, summer and fall, all 
the water that the soil will keep absorbed. Give 
less in winter, as an excess at this time causes the 
leaves to turn yellow and droop. 
As the rubber is more difficult to propagate than 
most house plants, and specimens will not get too 
large for several years, it will be best to get plants 
from the florist. It frequently happens, however, 
that an old plant which has been grown up to a 
single stem, becomes unwieldy, and bare at the 
bottom. In such cases the upper part may be re- 
moved by “ topping ”’ and the main trunk cut back to 
within six to eighteen inches of the pot or tub, 
and water withheld partly until new growth starts. 
The old stem may thus be transformed into a low, 
