TREATMENT OF TROPICAL BULBS, SEEDS, ETC. 81 



ture and not of art. When properly grown, Caladiums are 

 among the most attractive plants at our agricultural fairs 

 and horticultural exhibitions. The continued high tem- 

 perature necessary for the healthy growth of the Tuberose 

 is equally indispensable for the Caladium. The bulbs or 

 tubers we treat at first exactly in the same manner as the 

 Tuberose when started for early flowering out-doors ; that 

 is, they should not be started much before May 1st, and 

 never should they be kept for any length of time in a less 

 temperature than sixty-five degrees. They are best started 

 in small pots, and should be shifted into larger ones as 

 soon as these get filled with roots. Started in May, and 

 properly treated, they should be large enough by August 

 or September to require a flower pot twelve inches in 

 diameter, and the plant should be, according to the 

 variety, from two to three feet in diameter across the 

 leaves. Caladiums require a little shade, and if kept 

 in a greenhouse during summer, the glass should bo 

 shaded, but the light of an ordinary sitting-room would 

 be just about right ; so that even those who have not a 

 greenhouse can grow these rather rare and beautiful 

 plants with perfect ease. The only thing necessary, if 

 grown as a window plant, is to turn the pot around every 

 few days, so that each side may get a proper amount of 

 light, a necessity with all plants grown in windows. 

 Caladiums do well a little shaded in the open air, cither 

 in baskets on verandas or planted in the open ground. 

 The soil best suited for its growth is that known as sandy 

 loam, to which should be added one-third rotted manure 

 or leaf mold. 



The same time of starting and a similarly high tem- 

 perature is required for Begonias of all kinds, Bouvardias, 

 Cannas, Cissus, Coleuses, DracaBnas, Euphorbias, Poin- 

 settias. Salvias, and all other plants known as '' hot- 

 house" or '^tropical," and the same general treatment 

 will m nearly all cases lead to satisfactory results. All 



