58 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



each leaf-stalk — as this sometimes has the 

 effect of causing it to damp off. As the 

 plants go on the lower lea^-es will decay 

 and fall off, leaving a considerable length 

 of bare stem that will show a disjjosition 

 to throw out roots ; if, when these appear 

 in the summer, a little sphagnum moss is 

 tied round tlie stem just under the leaves, 

 the roots will quickly push into it ; the 

 crown may then be cut oft' just under the 

 roots, placed in a pot proportionate in 

 size, and treated as advised with the 

 smaller crowns, when it will soon get 

 established. The stool that remains will 

 push up several growths, as there is a 

 dormant eye at the point where each leaf 

 has been produced. These can either be 

 taken oft' and grown singly in pots, or may 

 be allowed to remain intact, if preferred. 

 Each spring, just as the plants are be- 

 ginning to grow, they should be turned 

 out, and as much of the old worn-out soil 

 removed as can be got away without break- 

 ing the roots ; and when they have occu- 

 pied pots as large as already advised they 

 may be jjlaced in the same with fiesh soil. 

 Insects. — This Ataccia is little troubled 

 with insects, its juices appearing to be of 

 too crude a nature to be congenial to their 

 tastes. Thrips may sometimes, though very 

 rarely, make their appearance on the backs 

 of the leaves, and can easily be destroyed 

 by syringing. Should greenfly be tiouble- 

 some, it is best dealt with by fumigation. 



AZALEA . 



Of all the greenhouse plants in cultiva- 

 tion, either as specimens for the exhibition 

 stage, for conservatory decoration, or simply 

 grown for producing cut flowers, there are 

 few that equal the Azalea, especially if its 

 excellent constitution and its immunity 

 from disease, when fairly treated, are taken 

 into account. In regard to propagation, 

 taking all things into account, it is better 

 to use grafted plants ; some of the stronger- 

 growing varieties will certainly do well on 

 their own roots, but they ar(i not so long- 

 lived, and by far the greater number do 

 much better when grafted. The object in 

 xi&v! ought to be to grow them up to some- 

 thing like the size required as quickly as 

 possible ; such plants are always more 

 likely to live and bloom satisfactorily than 

 those that have been grown slowly and 

 indifferently, and hence the necessity of 

 having free-growing young plants. On no 

 account commence with such as are at all 

 stunted, either through having been too 

 long in small pots, or having been kept too 

 cold in the winter. We would much 

 rather have a newly-grafted plant, which, 



with proper treatment, will grow away and 

 for outstrip plants that are stunted, and 

 we prefer those that have a few strong 

 vigorous shoots to those that have had 

 their shoots stopped so as to form close 

 bushy jjlants. 



When they are to be raised from cut- 

 tings, these should be put in Ijefore the 

 wood gets brown, or near maturity. Shoots 

 in the right condition will usually be ob- 

 tainable from plants that have flowered 

 and made growth early in spring, by June. 

 Slip them off" with a heel and trim the 

 base ; put six or eight together in 6-inch 

 pots, filled with sand, kept moist, close, 

 and shaded in an ordinary stove tempera- 

 ture. They will be rooted in seven or 

 eight weeks so as to admit of their being 

 moved singly into little pots ; use fine peat 

 and sand, and keep still a little close, with 

 as much warmth as hitherto, so as to get 

 their roots to move freely. Pinch out the 

 points to cause several shoots to break. As 

 the autumn advances give more air and 

 less shade, wintering in a temperature of 

 45° to 50°. In sirring move them into 

 5-inch pots ; when the shoots have grown 

 3 inches again pinch out the points, keeping 

 the plants in intermediate warmth through 

 the summer. If young grafted plants are 

 required, the stocks — any strong-growung 

 variety — should be raised in the way above 

 advised, except that they should not be 

 stopped, and should be confined to a single 

 shoot, which, if grown on freely as recom- 

 mended, will be ready for grafting about 

 the beginning of August, when a year old. 

 Select soft bits of stout shoots of the kinds 

 to be grown, remove the lower leaves, and 

 pare the bark and a little of the wood off 

 one side for about an inch ; treat the 

 soft part of the top of the stock similarly, 

 so as to fit the edges of the bark of each 

 together, and in this position bind them 

 with worsted. Kept warm, close, moist, 

 and shaded, they will unite in a few weeks, 

 when give more air. Slacken the ties when 

 this is necessary, and remove any growth 

 the stock may make, so as to direct all its 

 energies into the graft, the point of which 

 pinch out to cause it to break several 

 shoots. Whether the plants used are 

 grafted, or from cuttings, the treatment 

 from henceforth will be similar. Do not 

 winter them in a lower temperature than 

 45° or 50" by night. They will make little 

 or no perceptible progress through the 

 winter months, but so treated they will 

 cast very few leaves, and their roots will 

 Ije at work ; such plants will make more 

 l^rogress the ensuing summer than those 

 that have been starveil through the winter 

 will do in two seasons. Towards the be- 



