Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



139 



atmosphere in which the jilants are grown 

 is kept too dry. If affected, they should be 

 laid on their sides and freely syringed, 

 when the insects can be easily removed, 

 tlie smooth surface of the foliage, both on 

 the upper and under sides, net affording 

 much harbour for them ; the stout sub- 

 stance of the leaves also admits of the 

 water being thus ajiplied without injury. 

 Where scale has made a home upon a 

 plant it will be found necessary to resort 

 to sponging and cleaning thoroughly Avith 

 soapy water ; a good syringing should be 

 afterwards given it to cleanse it from all 

 impurities. 



CYTISUS. 



The kinds here treated of are free- 

 flowering evergreen greenhouse plants. 

 They are in no way particular as to soil, 

 growing in either peat or loam, but the 

 hitter is preferable, as it causes a greater 

 disposition to flower. 



Tlie diffei'ent sorts of Cytisus root freely ; 

 cuttings init several together in 5 or 6 inch 

 pots in Marcli, tilled with sand, and kept 

 moist and close in moderate warmth, will 

 be sufficiently rooted in five or six weeks 

 to move singly to small pots. Pinch out 

 the tops at the same time, and encourage 

 growth by keeping them a little close and 

 moist through the spring and summer, 

 shading a little in bright weather. By the 

 end of June move to 4 or 5 inch pots, and 

 ]iinch the points of the shoots when they 

 have made 3 inches of growth, closing 

 the pit or house in which they are grown 

 early in the afternoon, and moistening 

 overhead at the same time. Continue 

 this treatment until the end of August, 

 when inure them to more air and cease 

 syringing, keeping them through the 

 A\inter at an ordinary greenhouse tempera- 

 ture. Aliout the end of Mai'ch or be- 

 ginning of April give them a 3-inch shift, 

 potting them in good fibrous loam, to 

 which has been added one-sixth well-rotted 

 dung, the latter passed through a fine sieve, 

 so that all worms may be detected. Give 

 a moderate sprinkling of sand and sufficient 

 drainage ; jDot firm, and pinch out the 

 points of the strongest shoots. They 

 require no support, but, like Acacias and 

 some other strong-wooded things, unless 

 the branches are tied down whilst young 

 they have a disposition to grow erect, and 

 leave the bottom leggy and bare — conse- 

 quently the necessary training should be 

 attended to in the first stages of cultivation. 

 Through the spring syringe them overhead 

 every afternoon, getting thoroughly to the 

 under side of the leaves as well as to the 



upper surface, and turning the plants round 

 occasionally, so that the whole may be 

 reached by the water. This is necessary 

 to keep down red spider, to which they 

 are subject. By shutting up the house 

 early while the sun is on the glass growth 

 will be encouraged, and as soon as the roots 

 get well hold of the soil they must be 

 liberally supplied with water, as when in 

 free growth they require a good deal. 

 Continue this treatment rmtil the begin- 

 ning of August, when the plants should be 

 turned out-of-doors and stood on a bed of 

 ashes, in a situation where they will be 

 protected from the mid-day sun ; they will 

 now require well attending to with water 

 at the roots, which will have filled the 

 pots by this time. Continue also to 

 syringe overhead every evening during dry 

 weather. By the middle of September it 

 will be advisable to take them indoors ; 

 they will do in any house or pit where 

 there is a fair amount of light, and from 

 which frost can be excluded. ]3y placing 

 a portion of them in a temperature of 50°, 

 about the close of the year, they can be hud 

 in flower early, and others will succeed 

 them started later, to be followed by those 

 that bloom with the advent of solar heat. 

 After they have flowered, go over the 

 whole with the knife and cut back the 

 leading shoots so as to keep the plants in 

 shape ; and when they have broken and 

 the roots begin to move again, pot them, 

 giving a 3-inch shift, using'' soil similar to 

 the preceding year, and treating in every 

 way as before advised. They may be 

 grown on to a large size if required, but 

 will bear cutting back, the balls consider- 

 ably reducing, and repotting in new soil, 

 but after this operation they should be 

 kept close and a little warmer until growth 

 has fairly commenced. 



G. fili'pes is a white-flowered species, of 

 very slender, graceful, drooping habit, and is 

 much used grafted on straight, clean stems 

 of the Laburnum, 2 or o feet high, so as to 

 form pendulous standards. So managed it 

 is one of the most elegant plants grown, 

 especially for conservatory decoration, 

 where, standing above lower-growing 

 things, it is very effective. The stocks 

 will succeed either from seeds or cuttings. 

 After grafting the plants will thrive satis- 

 factorily with general management such as 

 advised. 



C. racemosiis snperhus. This is a garden 

 hybrid, a considerable improvement on the 

 old C. racemosus, and one of the most 

 useful decorative plants grown, producing 

 most freely its racemes of sweet-scentecl, 

 bright yellow floweis through a good por- 

 tion of the spring. 



