16 



Greenliouse and Stove Plants. 



the pillar or rafter without being too much 

 crowded. Where overcrowding occurs, the 

 light elegant arrangement that should 

 always exist in the training of plants in 

 such positions is wanting, and the health 

 and flowering capabilities of the subjects 

 employed interfered Avith. Do not give too 

 much water until the roots have got well 

 hold of the soil ; but when the pots are 

 filled they will in the summer, when in 

 full growth, need a copious supply, gradu- 

 ally reduced as winter apj^roaches, when 

 no more must be given than will just 

 suffice to keep the soil a little moist. 

 Before they begin growing in the spring, 

 the strongest shoots should be cut back at 

 different points, so as to induce the plants 

 to bieak afresh regularly from bottom to 

 top. When they have made some progress 

 they ought to be liberally supplied with 

 manure water : by this in a great measure 

 they will require to be sustained, as the 

 limited quantity of soil they occupy will 

 become exhausted. Previous to growth 

 commencing the third season they may 

 be cut back freely and turned out of 

 the pots, a portion of the old soil shaken 

 away, the roots shortened, and replaced in 

 the same pots with new material ; further 

 on in the season, if they show any signs of 

 weakness, give manure water freely. 

 Abutilons are gross feeders, and will bear 

 it moderately strong. By the use of this 

 and by periodically replacing the exhausted 

 soil with new, the plants can be kept going 

 for years in a healthy flowering condition, 

 or they may be at any time replaced by 

 young ones. 



Abutilons can be raised from seed sown 

 and subsequently treated as other warm 

 greenhouse plants, but cutting propaga- 

 tion will usually be found best for the 

 generality of growers. 



Of late years immense numbers of new 

 varieties have been raised ; the following 

 are a good selection of both old and neAver 

 kinds : — 



A. Agatha. Orange yellow, striped with 

 crimson. 



A. Aarelia. Deep yellow. 



A. Blcmdii. Dark yellow, veined and 

 netted with crimson. 



A. Boule de Neige. This is a beau- 

 tiful plant, extremely free in flowering, 

 producing its snow-white bells when in 

 a small or large state ; it is also very free 

 in growth and adapted for a pot specimen, 

 or for a rafter or pillar. 



A. Cleopatra. Eosy pink, veined with 

 crimson. 



A. Due de Malahnff. A free growing kind 

 with very large highly-coloured iluwexs, 



handsomely marked. Suitable for a 

 climber. 



A. Eclipse. Bright orange, shaded with 

 crimson, purjjle veins. A good compact 

 habited sort. 



A. lilaceum album. White, shaded with 

 mauve ; a dwarf habited sort, suitable for 

 a pot specimen. 



A. megapotamicum. A very free, hand- 

 some-flowered variety ; will answer either 

 as a pot specimen or as a roof climber ; 

 also known as A vexillarium. 



A. Mons. Ed. Fynaert van Geert. Ama- 

 ranth purple, veined with carmine, white 

 throat. 



A. Mons. Perpignan. Bright reddish 

 orange, veined with crimson, dark yellow 

 throat. 



A. roseum album. Rose, veined with 

 white, white throat. 



A. Royal Scarlet. Brilliant scarlet. A 

 dwarf habited variety. 



A. Sellowianum variegatum. A very 

 handsome kind, the leaves beautifully 

 suft'used with yellow and green. 



A. striatum. A strong-growing bright- 

 coloured kind, suitable for a wall, pillar, 

 or rafter. 



A. violaceum purpurenm variegatum. 

 Flowers purplish violet, the leaves hand- 

 somely variegated ; very effective, es- 

 pecially when covering the back wall of a 

 conservatory. 



Insects. — Abutilons are plants not very 

 much subject to Insects, although aphides 

 and scale will live upon them. The former 

 can be destroyed by fumigation or wash- 

 ing with tobacco or quassia water ; scale, 

 if it exist, must be removed with sponge 

 and brush ; red spider, to which they are 

 liable, is best kept under by continuous 

 use of the syringe during the growing 

 season. 



ACACIA. 



The gonus Acacia is represented by 

 a very great number of species, from 

 both Eastern and Western hemispheres. 

 Some attain the proportions of moderate- 

 sized trees, but most of them are 

 evergreen greenhouse shrubs, indigenous 

 to New Holland. Many possess great 

 beauty, and hold a very conspicuous place 

 amongst decorative flowering plants in our 

 conservatories, where their elegant habit 

 makes them very suitable for draping the 

 walls and pillars, where, in the early 

 spring, their profuse wreaths of yellow 

 floweis are very ett ective. There are a few 

 that are, more than others, especially 

 adapted for use as pot plants, and can be 

 so managed as to come into bloom at any 

 time during the winter, through being 



