MONTHLY CALENDAR. 715 



consisting of equal parts leaf-mould, loam, and peat, with a coloui'ing of sand. 

 As soon as these pots are filled with roots, shift in to 12- or 8-sized pots, and 

 return them to the same quai'ters. By maintaining a bottom and surface- 

 heat from 60° to 70°, syringing twice or thrice a day, and watering carefully, 

 they may be grown to any size you please. If you start them early, the young 

 shoots may also be stopped, and two dozen flowering shoots secured instead 

 of one. But such a plant well grown would require half an ordinary-sized 

 house to hold it ; and, perhaps, plants with three to six blooms are the most 

 beautiful, and certainly the most convenient. There is a creamy- white variety 

 of this plant, certainly not to be compared to the other, but still interesting 

 and showy, especially by candle-light. 



2241. A beautiful companion-plant to this is Euphorbia jacquiniflora. Its 

 propagation and culture may be identically the same. It possesses, hov,-- 

 ever, one peculiarity in the extreme, which the other also has in a modified 

 form. When you stop a young shoot of this euj^horbia, it is seldom that 

 more than a single bud on the stopped shoot will break. By stopping, 

 you gain nothing in advance, therefore, but lose much time. When bushy 

 plants are desired, from three to a dozen cuttings should be placed in one 

 pot, and grown on into jDlants without being separated. Cut plants may be 

 treated exactly the same as the Poinsettia ; but they do not break so freely. 

 For bouquets, vases, or head-dresses, this Euphorbia is one of the finest 

 flowers in existence ; a fine spike, 18 inches long, is a matchless wreath at 

 once. The brilliant efi'ect of this plant among begonias, ferns, and other 

 things, must be seen to be appreciated. Some late caladiums, grown for this 

 purpose, will now be intermixing their beautiful leaves with the bright flower- 

 stems of Gesneria cinmabi'ina, and others. The bright red berries of the 

 Ardisia crenulata will also be exhibiting themselves in striking contrast with 

 the shining green leaves. 



2242. Orchids. — Rest here should still be the order of the day ; neverthe- 

 less that rest will be partially broken by the flowering of some or all of the 

 following plants : — Pholaenopsis amabilis, several Oncidiums, Cymbidiums, 

 Epidendrums, Cattleyas, Zygopetalums, kc. Maintain a temperature of 60° 

 to 70°, and avoid all stimulating treatment. 



2243. Greenltoicses. — Preserve a minimum temperature of 40° ; give as 

 much air as possible ; see that the stock is kept perfectly clean by occasional 

 smokings, washings, dippings, &c. ; put on a fire on dull mornings to enable 

 you to expel damp ; remove heaths, epacrises, &c., to the conservatory as 

 they come in flower ; shift young plants of kalosanthus into their blooming- 

 pots as they require it, and keep everything in a quiet semi-dormant state 

 until the new year awakens them to hard work and a new life. 



2244. Pelargoniums. — Early varieties for cut flowers may be forced into 

 bloom in a vinery or peach-house at work. The general stock will require 

 careful treatment this month. The latest-flowering si^ecimens may receive 

 their final shift, and all will require careful training, a genial temperature of 

 45°, and great skill in watering and ventilating. Fancy varieties often show 



