24 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



years. There are other species of or 

 namental asparagus but they are not 

 commercially valuable. 



ASPIDISTRA. 



The species lurida and its variegated 

 forms are known to every cultivator of 

 plants. It will bear more gas, heat and 

 dust than most any other plant we grow. 

 They are invaluable for vases in the 

 cities, not only on the streets in summer 

 time but in the rooms in winter. No 

 one can fail to grow an aspidistra, and a 

 fine specimen of either the green or the 

 striped, with its leaves occasionally 

 sponged, is a Handsome object. It 

 thrives in the most sunny and exposed 

 places, or in the shade. The flowers are 

 curious, but of no value, and in many 

 cases pass unobserved, for they are close 

 to the ground at the base of the leaf. 



They are propagated entirely by di 

 vision, or rather by the young plants 

 that spring from the sides of the older 

 plants. This is best done in March or 

 April. Any good loam with the addi 

 tion of some rotten manure will grow 

 them, and they should have plenty of 

 water at all times. 



Old and familiar as this plant is, there 

 is never an oversupply of it, for it is 

 not rapidly increased. It is now largely 

 imported from Belgium and the plants 

 are sold by the hundred leaves. 



ASPLENIUM. 



The spleenworts, as the asplenium 

 genus has been termed (from the sup- 



genus, the aspleniums are very widely dis 

 tributed, and in consequence -we find 

 among them species requiring warm 

 house treatment, others that need com 

 paratively little heat, and a few that are 

 quite hardy in our northern and east 

 ern states, there being more than half a 

 dozen species that are native here. 



The subject of our illustration, A. 

 bulbiferum, belongs to the second di 

 vision, or those that require only mod 

 erate heat, and though in commerce for 

 many years, is by no means so plentiful 

 as its merits would justify. A. bulbi 

 ferum is an evergreen fern from New 

 Zealand, the home of many of our finest 

 ferns, and has finely divided fronds of 

 nearly triangular outline, these fronds 

 reaching a length of nearly two feet in 

 a good specimen, and being nearly one 

 foot in breadth at the widest part. The 

 plant has a gracefully drooping habit, 

 this being accentuated by the weight of 

 the numerous tiny young plants that fre 

 quently form on the upper side of the 

 fronds. 



This proliferous habit is found in sev 

 eral of the aspleniums, but is perhaps 

 most marked in the species under con 

 sideration, the fronds often being studded 

 over with young plants that are just 

 showing their first leaf. This peculiarity 

 is often taken advantage of in the prop 

 agation of A. bulbiferum, a common 

 method being to bend over these prolifer 

 ous fronds and then peg them down on 

 the surface of a flat filled with light 

 sandy soil, and the latter being kept 

 moist soon induces the young plants to 



Asplenium Bulbiferum. 



posed medicinal value that ancient prac 

 titioners believed them to possess), form 

 one of the largest fern groups in culti 

 vation, over 300 species having been de 

 scribed, though it is rather doubtful if 

 this whole number is at the present time 

 in cultivation. 



As may be expected in so large a 



form roots, after which they may be 

 readily detached from the parent frond. 

 This operation is, of course, carried out 

 in a shaded fern house, where the at 

 mospheric conditions are favorable for 

 the establishment of these young plants. 

 The aspleniums in general produce 

 spores quite freely, and A. bulbiferum 



is no exception to the rule, but as the 

 spores are somewhat slow in germina 

 tion, the process above described is prob 

 ably more often used. No special treat 

 ment is called for in growing this fern, 

 and young plants grow nicely in com 

 pany with Adiantum cuneatum and 

 Pteris serrulata, though possibly enjoy 

 ing a little more shade than is abso 

 lutely necessary for those species. 



W. H. T. 



ASTER. 



A large genus, mostly hardy peren 

 nials, widely spread throughout the 

 world. Many of them belong to North 

 America and are the flowers of our 

 fields, and of these many are worthy a 

 place in the hardy garden. It is in the 

 annual, the Chinensis, section that we 

 are interested. 



Of all our so-called hardy annuals 

 the aster takes the leading place. 

 Most all of our customers want a few. 

 They are planted in the mixed border, 

 or occupy whole beds, and with the com 

 mercial florist who grows for cut flowers 

 they are a leading article. To obtain a 

 good strain and cultivate them well is 

 a matter of great importance to many 

 of us. From the middle of July till 

 frost cuts them off they are a prominent 

 feature in all our flower stores. 



Twenty years ago the raising of aster 

 seed was left largely to the continental 

 Europeans, but nowadays as good a 

 strain as exists can be obtained here, 

 and any of us who has the time and in 

 dustry can save his own aster seed. The 

 finest flowers of the purest colors should 

 be marked and tied and allowed to get 

 thoroughly ripe, when the stalks can be 

 cut and put away in a cool, dry place 

 and the seeds separated at your leisure. 



In the following directions for the 

 raising of the young plants from the 

 seed to planting time I have endeavored 

 to be explicit, as the same rules will 

 apply to the raising of other annuals, 

 such as stocks, zinnias, phlox, etc., and 

 to which in their order I shall refer 

 the reader to asters for directions for 

 raising the young plants. 



The seed should bo last year s crop; 

 older seed may grow but it is not to 

 be depended upon. Successive crops 

 may be wanted, or some early flowers 

 grown under glass, so sowing can be 

 done from middle of February till 

 middle of April and even later. Sow 

 in pans, or, if large quantities are 

 wanted, in flats two inches deep. Al 

 ways sow in colors. Fill the flats about 

 even full with a light soil to which has 

 been added a fourth of very rotten 

 stable manure or thorouhly rotted leaf- 

 mold, then press down with a piece of 

 board or a block, which will carry the 

 soil down half an inch below top of flat. 

 Then with a fine rose or sprinkler on 

 the watering pot (or, to save labor we 

 have the sprinkler screwed on the end 

 of a %-inch hose), give the soil in the 

 flats a good watering, sufficient to wet 

 the soil through to the bottom. In half 

 an hour sow the seed. Why we wait is 

 to give the soil time to dry on the sur 

 face so that the seed can be lightly 

 pressed into the soil with the board 



