Grecniiouse and Stove Plautts. 



69 



are used, pieces about the thickness of a 

 quill should be taken off existing plants 

 early in the spring, before growth has 

 commenced, and cut into bits about an 

 inch in length ; insert them singly in 

 thumb pots in a mixture of two-thiids peat 

 to o;ie of sand, with half-an-inch of sand on 

 tlie surface, leaving the thickest end of the 

 cuttings just a little above the sand ; place 

 them in a temperature of 65° or 70° in the 

 night, and a few degrees higher in the day. 

 In a few weeks shoots will be formed from 

 near the top of the cuttings, which will 

 also soon begin to make fibrous roots. 

 Treat them afterwards as with plants 

 grown from cuttings made from the shoots, 

 giving them larger pots as required. When 

 these plants are increased by cuttings made 

 from the young wood in the spring, shoots 

 should be chosen that are not too hard, or, 

 in the opposite extreme, too soft and 

 watery. The former will be slow in root- 

 ing, and cannot easily be induced to grow 

 freely ; the latter will most likely damp 

 off. Select such as are uKjderate in strength, 

 and if these can be taken off with a heel, at 

 their junction with the old wood, they will 

 be much more likely to succeed. Put 

 them singly in small pots in sand, confine 

 under a propagating glass in a biisk heat, 

 give moisture and shade ; and when rooted 

 gradually inure them to the full air of the 

 house. After they have fairly commenced 

 to grow, give them pots 3 inches laigei'. 

 They will grow in either loam or peat, but 

 in the first stages peat has some advantages. 

 Use it now broken moderately fine, with 

 one-sixth sand added. Place them in a light 

 situation in a house where the night tem- 

 perature is kept about 70°, and 10° higher 

 in the day -with sun-heat. Sliade slightly 

 in very bright weather, giving sufficient 

 air to keep the growth from being drawn up 

 weakly. By the end of July the plants 

 will most likely have filled their pots with 

 roots, and should be at once shifted into 

 others 3 inches larger ; at this time half loam 

 .should be mixed with the peat. Pot them 

 moderately firm, and place two or three 

 sticks in the pots to tiain the shoots to ; 

 it is better not to stop them, as in most 

 cases a single shoot for a considerable 

 height will be the most suitable form for 

 the plants to assume. Keep them regularly 

 trained round the sticks, not letting the 

 shoots twine round these, or they wall 

 most likely sufter when they have to be 

 removed. As the autumn advances give 

 more air, discontinue shading, and reduce 

 the temperature ; but do not allow them 

 to get too dry at the roots, as, in common 

 with other evergreen subjects, their leaves 

 will be injured if this occurs. 



Winter them in a temperature of 55° or 

 60°. About the beginning of March they 

 should be planted out where they are in- 

 tended to remain, as they are naturally too 

 laige for pot culture (unless the pots are 

 much larger than either sightly or con- 

 venient), and their nature is not such as 

 will admit of partial shaking out and re- 

 moval of the soil annually. 



The border in which they are to be 

 grown should be well diained, as the plants 

 when they get large will recj^uire copious 

 waterings. Six inches of broken bricks 

 ought to be placed in the bottom, with 

 a sufficient egress from this for the 

 water. Over the drainage put some fibrous 

 material to prevent it getting clogged up 

 with the soil, which should consist of good 

 loam, with a little rotten manure added, 

 and enough sand to keep it open. The 

 soil should be a foot or 15 inches in depth. 

 When the plants are turned out the roots 

 ought to be carefully loosened from the 

 ball and spread out, covered about 3 or 4 

 inches, and the soil pressed moderately 

 firm. The shoots should then be trained 

 in the places they are to occupy. As the 

 roots get to growing freely, give water 

 when requirecl, and as soon as the shoots 

 have attained the height where they are 

 desired to branch out, so as to furnish the 

 space they have to fill, the points should be 

 pinched oft' to cause them to break. Re- 

 peat the operation at intervals as they 

 groM', until sufficient exist ; these should 

 be regularly trained to wires fixed for the 

 purpose, as, if neglected (especially in their 

 younger stages), they will twine round 

 each other, and become an entangled 

 mass that will require cutting back. 

 Duiing the growing season they will be 

 much benefited by a free use of the syringe 

 every afternoon. When the allotted space 

 is covered the plants should be cut in each 

 season when the flowering is over, after 

 which they will commence to make growth 

 for the ensuing season's blooming. As the 

 soil becomes exhausted each spring, before 

 the roots begin to move, an inch or two 

 should be removed from the border, and 

 replaced with new material ; and through 

 the grooving season manure-water will be a 

 great assistance. 



The following species are deser\Hng of 

 ciiltivation : — 



B. argyrea violescens. A handsome 

 species. 



B. aurantiaca. A species of medium 

 growth ; flowers yellow. A native of 

 South America. 



B. Chamberlmjnii. A strong-growing, 

 yellow-flowered kind from Brazil. 



B. littoralis. A free-srowing, handsome 



