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SUMMER CARE OF THE CALLA. 



OVV to care for the Calla during the summer, in the most 

 satisfactory way, seems to be a question on which many 

 growers of it differ. Some keep it growing all through the 

 year, and because it does comparatively well with this treat- 

 ment, they argue that the proper way is to keep it growing. 

 I do not agree with them, however, because I do not be- 

 lieve any plant ought to be kept growing actively all the time. There should 

 be a period of rest. My plan is to put the pots containing the plants out of 

 doors in June, turn them on their sides under a tree, or in some partially shel- 

 tered place, and there I leave them until September, without any attention what- 

 ever. After a short time, the foliage turns yellow, and very soon it drops off, 

 because the soil in the pot is becoming dry. In two weeks after putting the pot 

 out, you would not suspect there was a live root in the soil it contains. But the 

 live root is there, all prepared. Of course the soil absorbs more or less moisture 

 from the air, but not enough, in an ordinary season, to keep it from getting as 

 dry as dust. One would naturally think the root would wither away, but it doe 

 not. Although the soil about it seems robbed of all moisture, the root holds 

 enough to retain plumpness. 



In September I prepare a fresh compost of mucky earth, some sharp sand, 

 and a little loam. If the roots are strong, good-sized ones, I use an eight-inch 

 pot to plant them in. Good drainage n],ust be provided, for, while the plant 

 likes a great deal of moisture at its roots while growing, it does not take kindly 

 to stagnant water about them. Keep the soil moist, or wet, by frequent appli- 

 cations of water, rather than by confining it to the pot by imperfect drainage. 

 An imperfectly drained soil soon becomes sour and heavy, and this induces dis- 

 ease : and an unhealthy Calla seldom gives flowers. Plant the roots so that the 

 crown will be two or three inches under the soil, water well, and in a short time 

 young leaves will appear. Then give more water, but do not keep the soil very 

 moist until strong growth has begun. If there are two or three good, strong 

 roots, do not separate them, but give a larger pot, if necessary. I prefer to grow 

 two or three roots of blooming size in the same pot, because the quantity of 

 foliage will be much greater than when but one root is used to a pot, and there 

 will be as many again flowers. If given proper care, a pot containing two strong 

 roots ought to have at least one flower open and a bud showing nearly all o( the 

 time from January to April. — American Agriculturist. 



U26) 



