22 



THE FLORISTS* MANUAL. 



They will thrive during summer out of 

 doors in the broad sun, but will lose 

 color, and are best under glass with a 

 slight shade and all the ventilation that 

 you can give them. They want a uni 

 form and moderate amount of water the 

 year around. In the winter months 50 

 degrees is sufficiently warm. 



The araucaria is not only the most 

 graceful small tree we have but is very 

 satisfactory for house culture when given 

 a light window. Your customers should 

 be told to keep them as light and cool 

 as possible. 



The forms of A. excelsa known as 



is little grown, being neither very hand 

 some nor showy. 



A. crenulata is the best known and 

 most useful. They can be propagated 

 by cuttings of the half-ripened wood in 

 April and May, but are more easily 

 raised from seed. Sow the seed as soon 

 as ripe in a temperature of 60 degrees. 

 Be careful in transplanting into pots not 

 to let the plants wilt from drought or 

 sun. Grow them on in a light house 

 and shift as they require it. The follow 

 ing spring they can be given their flow 

 ering, or rather fruiting, pot, plunged on 

 a light bench in the greenhouse. If sown 



Ardisia Crenulata in White Pot Cover. 



glauca and compacta are more expen 

 sive but are improvements on the type. 



ARDISIA. 



Dwarf, hard-wooded trees that flower 

 and fruit when quite small; the best of 

 the berried plants with handsome glossy 

 foliage, and densely covered with bright 

 red berries. 



Ardisia Japonica has white berries but 



in March or April they will flower the 

 following spring, and will bear their 

 first crop of berries for the coming win 

 ter. The berries hang on frequently a 

 whole year and two crops of berries on 

 the same plant are frequently seen. 

 When over two feet in height they be 

 come bare and unsightly. A night 

 temperature o 50 degrees in winter is 

 about right. Brown scale is their great 

 est enemy and to keep those down a 



sponging of soap and nicotine must be 

 used. 



ARISTOLOCHIA. 



Nearly all hothouse climbers, several 

 of them having most curious and re 

 markable flowers. They are best planted 

 out in the houses where they grow free 

 ly. They are, however, of little value 

 commercially, except the hardy species, 

 A. Sipho, the familiar Dutchman s 

 pipe, which is one of the handsomest 

 of vines. For covering a veranda, sum 

 mer house or trellis it is admirably 

 suited. Its peculiarly formed little 

 flower, from which it takes its familiar 

 name, is inconspicuous, being overshad 

 owed by its large leaves. 



You are constantly asked for a good 

 hardy vine. Few plants are better than 

 Aristolochia Sipho. It needs some sup 

 port to twine and twist around. It is 

 easily propagated from cuttings but if 

 you are not in the nursery business you 

 had better leave that to the nurseryman, 

 who will supply you with strong plants 

 at a price that will enable you to make 

 a good profit. 



A. Sipho thrives in any good garden 

 soil. As a curiosity A. gigas is the most 

 remarkable but it is not handsome and 

 has anything but a pleasing odor. 



ASPARAGUS. 



Of this genus there are three or four 

 species that are very useful and orna 

 mental plants. The one having the 

 greatest commercial value is A. plumosus. 

 There seems to be some confusion about 

 the name of this species, or there are two 

 varieties. English catalogues make a 

 distinction and call one variety A. plu 

 mosus nanus. With us the one that 

 was actually dwarf has been lost track 

 of and the one that grows twenty feet 

 high is still called nanus. This is evi 

 dently a misnomer. 



Seed can be sown at any time. Sow 

 in flats and cover with an eighth of an 

 inch of leaf-mold or light soil and keep 

 on a bench where the heat is not less 

 than 60 degrees at night. It is well to 

 be particular as to the source from which 

 you get the seed. Imported seed fre 

 quently germinates poorly, but the home 

 grown seed conies freely. We pot the 

 seedlings into 2-inch pots, and if in 

 tended to plant in a permanent bed we 

 first shift again into a 4-inch. A good, 

 warm house suits it when young, but not 

 a close, heavily shaded one. 



An asparagus bed for the production 

 of long strings should be oa the ground. 

 My own experience has given me a les 

 son on this point, and to use the words 

 of Mr. W. H. Elliott, Brighton, Mass., 

 our largest grower of this asparagus, 

 &quot;It should never be divorced from 

 mother earth.&quot; One foot of soil on the 

 floor of a lofty house will grow it for 

 many years. like all its family, it flour 

 ishes best in rich soil; a good, heavy 

 loam with a fourth or fifth of cow ma 

 nure is the best compost for it, and in 

 addition put a good dressing on the sur 

 face of the bed every midsummer. Al 

 though the same bed will last indefinitely, 

 I think it more profitable to renew the 



