DECORATIVE 



along their edges. This variety, however, 

 lacks the robust qualities which characterize the 

 variety in general cultivation, and though it is 

 very attractive when well grown, it generally 

 fails to give complete satisfaction. Therefore 

 do not allow yourself to be cajoled into buying 

 it by the elaborate descriptions given in the 

 catalogues under the impression that you are 

 going to get something that will give you a 

 great deal more pleasure than the more com- 

 mon sort. 



Those who complain of the difficulty of 

 growing fine plants in the hall ought to experi- 

 ment with the Queen Victoria Agave. I know 

 of but one other plant that will do as well as 

 this one with little care, and that is the Aspi- 

 distra, which I shall presently speak of. This 

 Agave has long, thick, succulent foliage, of a 

 pale green regularly bordered with creamy yel- 

 low. The old leaves are very persistent, and a 

 two- or three-year-old plant will often have as 

 many as twenty or thirty of them two to three 

 feet in length, all sent out from a common 

 centre. The ornamental effect of such a plant 

 cannot be imagined in any satisfactory degree ; 

 it must be seen to be understood. For halls 

 where there is not a great deal of direct light 



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