Greenhouse and Stove PlaiiU. 



253 



to the roots, a liberal admission of air 

 in the daytime, and a free syringing 

 overhead in the afternoon ; no more shade 

 is required than is found necessary to pre- 

 vent the leaves scorching. By the be- 

 ginning of July they -will most likely want 

 another shift, Avhich sliould be into pots or 

 tubs from 18 to 24 inches diameter, accord- 

 ing to the progress that has been made or 

 the size they are wanted to be grown to, 

 using soil of a turfy nature in good-sized 

 pieces. They will now grow fast and 

 require nothing more than ordinary atten- 

 tion, as already detailed. During the 

 winter they should be kept in a tempera- 

 ture of not less than 60° in the night. 

 With care to prevent their large massive 

 leaves from getting disfigured they will 

 keep in good condition for another summer, 

 during which time they not only are com- 

 manding objects in the house in which 

 they are grown, but are very effective when 

 stood in large halls, vestibules, or similar 

 places where they can be allowed to remain 

 for a short time in summer. They are 

 quickly grown up to an effective size, for 

 which reason it is well to keep up a stock 

 of young plants raised from suckers, as 

 advised. By the use of manure-water they 

 will do with less root-room. 



The undermentioned are the best for 

 general cultivation : — 



M. Cavendishii. This is much the best 

 where fruit-bearing is the object, as it does 

 not grow to an unmanageable height — 5 

 feet or 6 feet — and produces massive 

 bunches of singular-looking fruit. When 

 planted out it can be had in bearing from 

 suckers in the course of twelve or fifteen 

 months. A native of China. 



M. coccinea. This also is a Chinese 

 species, and is an ornamental plant of 

 moderate growth and handsome appear- 

 ance. 



M. Ensete attains a considerable size, 

 wdth a tall Palm-like stem and very large 

 leaves. Introduced from Abyssinia. 



M. sapicnfum vittata. A handsome 

 species from St. Thomas, that attains a 

 medium height. 



Insects. — Musas are liable to the attacks 

 of most of the insects that affect stove 

 plants, yet their comparatively few, but 

 very large and smooth, leaves afford little 

 shelter for them. All except scale can 

 easily be got rid of by syringing with tepid 

 water. If scale appears it can be removed 

 by sponging. 



MUSS^NDA FRONDOSA. 



This singular, yet beautiful, jjlant be- 

 longs to a somewhat restrictetl family of 



evergreen stove shrubs mostly from hot 

 countries, in both the Old and New 

 Worlds. This .species is much the hand- 

 somest of the genus, and is unlike any other 

 plant in cultivation. It produces bright 

 yellow flowers, borne in bunches, in form 

 not unlike the well-known Pentas cariiea, 

 but individually smaller ; yet it is not in 

 the flowers alone that its beauty consists, 

 but also in the large floral bracts or pair of 

 floral leaves, pure white, that are produced 

 immediately at the base of each bunch of 

 bloom. In size and shape they are similar 

 to the ordinary leaves borne by the plant, 

 but do not much outlast the flowers, which 

 will remain three weeks in perfection. 

 The plant is easily managed, and does not 

 require a great deal of room, a large speci- 

 men rarely attaining more than from two 

 feet to two and a half feet in diameter. Its 

 disposition to bloom is remarkably free, 

 as even small examples consisting of a shoot 

 or two will flower. The singidar combina- 

 tion in colour produced by the pale green 

 of the leaves and the white bracts, which, 

 on a well-grown exanijile, cover half the 

 surface, and the bright yellow flowers 

 rising immediately above them, is at once 

 beautiful and wholly distinct from every- 

 thing else — so much so as to create surprise 

 tliat the plant is not more generally culti- 

 vated, either by those whose heated glass 

 accommodation is limited, for which the 

 little room it occupies adapts it, or by those 

 who have large stoves or warm conserva- 

 tories, where a few moderate-sized examples 

 aotted about would offer a complete con- 

 trast to the other occupants. 



It is as readily struck as a Pelargonium ; 

 cuttings made of the green, half-ripenecl 

 shoots taken off with about three joints, 

 removing the bottom pair of leaves, will 

 root in a few weeks, inserted singly in 

 small pots, drained and filled with a mix- 

 ture of half-sifted loam, to which an equal 

 quantity of sand has been added, and a 

 thin layer of sand spread on the surface. 

 They should be covered with a bell-glass, 

 kept moist and slightly shaded with or 

 without bottom heat, in a night tempera- 

 ture of 65° or 70° and proportionately 

 higher in the day. This heat there will be 

 no difficulty in maintaining about the time 

 (April) when cuttings in the condition 

 above described -w-ill be obtainable. As 

 soon as they are found to have formed 

 roots give air, gradually dispensing with 

 the glasses, so as to inure the plants to the 

 air of the house. When they have made 

 two pairs more leaves pinch out the points 

 of the shoots to induce the lower eyes to 

 break, for although the plant is naturally 

 inclined to assume a bushy form, yet to 



