MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS 75 



retarding the flowering reason. Plenty of ventilation 

 is necessary, as the plants do not like a close atmo- 

 sphere, neither will they stand much artificial heat. 

 When the buds show, give weak manure-water occa- 

 sionally. Propagate either in summer from half ripened 

 shoots with their points intact, or at pruning time from 

 ripened shoots the points of which have been cut 

 out. Pelargoniums of this section are very much subject 

 to attacks from green fly and must be often fumigated 

 or syringed with tobacco water. 



Pelargoniums (Zonale). The use of these for green- 

 houses in summer is well known, but what I wish to 

 point out here is their extreme value as winter 

 flowering plants. Take cuttings in February, striking 

 these singly in three-inch pots, the cutting pots to 

 be placed on a sunny shelf so that the cuttings become 

 well hardened from the first. When well struck 

 and growing, pinch out the points, which will cause 

 new shoots to form, and, when these are an inch or 

 two long, pot the plants into four and a half inch pots, 

 ramming the soil firmly. Place in a garden frame exposed 

 to full sun. About the end of June, pot again into six-inch 

 pots, using a very sandy and fibrous loam lightened with 

 a little decayed horse droppings. Keep all flowers 

 pinched off during the summer, or say till the middle of 

 September, then remove to a greenhouse with a dry atmo- 

 sphere and a minimum temperature of 50 deg. to 55 deg., 

 in which they will flower splendidly during the greater 

 part of the winter. They should be grown close up 

 to the light at all times and more especially so when 

 flowering. All varieties are not equally free winter 

 bloomers, but any nurseryman would suggest a good set 

 of varieties for the purpose. 



Richardia Aethiopica. This plant is popularly known as 

 the White Arum or Calla Lily. Though a native of the 

 swamp, it requires, when used for pot work, a season of 



