230 



Grecnlivuse and Stove Plants 



LAPAGERIA. 



found the best course is to put the plants 

 in the fire, as the trouble in completely 

 eradicating the pest is greater than they 

 are worth, and the brown species is a source 

 of continual annoyance. 



When these plants were scarcer than at 

 present, and there was usually a reluctance 

 to sacrifice the shoots for layering, pro- 

 pagation from cuttings was often lesorted 

 to, but this is a slower method, and layer- 

 ing is now in most cases adopted. The 

 course to pursue is wtiere stout plants are 

 at hand to layer all or such portion of the 

 shoots as required in autumn ; all that is 

 needed is to put an inch or two of mode- 

 rately fine peat mixed with sand on the 

 surface of the bed in which the plant is 

 groAvn, or, if in a pot or tub, to fill a large 

 box or pot with the peat and sand, stand- 

 ing it near the plant so as to admit of the 

 shoots to be operated on being bent and 

 pegged down their whole length so that 

 the stem is covered about an inch with the 

 peat, thus covering the stalks of the leaves 

 and about one-third of the leaf-blade. 

 The shoots can be coiled round on the 

 surface of the box or pot so as to occupy 

 the whole ; keep the soil moderately moist, 

 in this way the buds at the base of the 

 leaves will emit roots and make shoots 

 which will appear during the ensuing 

 spring. Each of these must be supported 

 with a stick round which it will twine. 

 During the summer syringe slightly over- 

 head ; about midsummer they should be 

 taken off with their roots intact, and put 

 singly in 5 or 6 inch pots filled with 

 soil of a similar description to that in 

 which the shoots were layered. Water 

 must be given as required, and the young 

 plants encouraged to get established Ijefoie 

 winter, during which keep at an ordinary 

 greenhouse temperature. The weaker plants 

 had better be grown on another season in 

 the pots they occupy ; the strongest should 

 be moved about March, loosen the roots 

 a little, if these are plentiful give a 3-inch 

 shift, making the new soil quite firm. It 

 is n(jt yet advisable to put them on a per- 

 manent trellis, but they .should have five 

 or six good sticks a yard in length inserted 

 in the new soil just inside the rims of the 

 pots, and round these the shoots should be 

 trained. These, as growth extends, should 

 be regularly attended to all through the 

 summer, as, if the tender points are allowed 

 to become entangled they cannot afterwards 

 be separated without injiiry. At all times 

 they require plenty of air, but do not like 

 cokl draughts. After potting the plants 

 should be placed in a house or pit where an 

 ordinary greenhouse temperature is kept 

 up. If subjected to more heat than this 



the growth produced is generally so soft 

 that the young leaves are liable to injury 

 by very little exposure to the sun. After 

 potting do not give water for a few days, 

 but the soil must at no time be allowed to 

 get as dry as would be necessary with most 

 things. As the weather gets warmer give 

 air, and when they have commenced to 

 grow freely a slight damping overhead 

 with the syringe in the afternoons will be 

 beneficial. The habit of the plants is such, 

 natuially breaking up from the bottom, 

 that no stopping is required. All that is 

 necessary through the spring and summer 

 will be to attend to training the shoots, 

 giving plenty of water to the soil as the 

 roots begin groA^ang well, to admit air 

 freely in accordance with the state of the 

 weather, and to shade slightly when the 

 sun is powerful. In the autumn discon- 

 tinue shading and the use of the syringe, 

 giving abundance of air to discourage 

 further growth. Through the winter a 

 night temperature of 35° or 40°, according 

 to the state of the weather, will be suffi- 

 cient, reduce the amount of water to the 

 roots, but never allow the soil to become 

 dry. About the same time in the spring 

 again repot, letting the size of the shift be 

 proportionate to the progress the plants 

 have made. If roots are plentiful, pots 3 

 or 4 inches larger will be required ; use 

 the best fibrous peat that can be got, and 

 at the same time loosen all the shoots from 

 the sticks, and replace these with others 

 taller, so as to accommodate the increased 

 growth. Treat through the summer as in 

 the previous season, and again in the autumn 

 and winter keep them cool. 



By the time of the next shift in spring 

 the plants, if growth has gone on as may 

 be expected, will be large enough to be 

 placed on a wire trellis, not too big, 

 although the rate of yearly increase in 

 size will now be considerable, as the 

 shoots thrown up from the base will be 

 very much stronger than those which were 

 produced at first ; disperse them over the 

 trellis, so as to furnish it evenly, and vrind 

 the strong young shoots that rise from the 

 bottom regularly round it. The growth 

 should not be kept trained down, but 

 ought to be run np strings tied to the top 

 of the trellis, and thence in an upright 

 direction to the roof. Up these the shoots 

 should be kept trained, where they will 

 complete their growth and set flowers, 

 after which they can easily be wound 

 round the trellis, where they will expand 

 through the advanced summer and autumn. 

 All now required is to continue the same 

 treatment winter and summer as pre- 

 viously advised, giving more root-room 



