THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



Dracaena Fragrans. 



cept Draco. There are several varieties 

 of indivisa, the best of which are 

 Veitchii and lineata. Unlike the other 

 clracaenas this one is easily and quickly 

 raised from seed. If it were prop 

 agated only by cuttings how highly 

 prized it would be, for no dracaena has 

 more grace. What makes it most valu 

 able to the commercial florist is its abil 

 ity to withstand the sun and drought to 

 which it is exposed throughout the sum 

 mer in our cemetery vases. It not only 

 lives under these unfavorable conditions, 

 but flourishes. When three or four feet 

 high if in good order it makes a splen 

 did decorative plant that will endure 

 any amount of hard usage, in fact 

 anything but freezing, and we know 

 that it even comes out of a slight frost 

 unhurt. The seed, which is very 

 cheap, should be sown in flats in win 

 ter or spring. We prefer to grow them 

 the first year under glass, and the sec 

 ond spring plant them out in some good 

 light, rich soil. The following fall they 

 are lifted and potted in 4-inch or 5-inch 

 pots and used largely the following 

 spring for our vases and veranda-boxes. 

 I know of no plant of its value that is 

 so easy to grow and of so great a use 

 to the florist. If short of room we have 

 stood the small plants under a light 

 bench in a cool house and kept them 

 rather dry, where they have done well, 

 but if you want them to grow during 

 winter they should have 50 degrees at 

 night, plenty of syringing with the 

 hose, and they are troubled with noth 

 ing. In a few hundred seedlings you 

 will see quite a variation of character; 

 some with leaves almost a bronze red. 

 They should be put aside and grown 

 on with care ; they may turn out to be 

 of great beauty and value. 



plants, especially as some authors of re 

 cent years have ignored the theory of 

 drainage entirely and pronounced it 

 wrong in theory, and a waste of money 

 and time in practice. There &quot;are few 

 farmers, nurserymen or market garden 

 ers who do not believe in the practice 

 of draining. Some land may need it 

 more than others, but all are benefited 

 by a system of drainage except it be a 

 good loam lying on a gravel. 



I am not going into the art of drain 

 ing land, but the principle, if right with 

 land, is right in our flower pots. Years 

 ago it was carried out to an absurdity. 

 A piece of crock in the bottom of a 

 4-inch geranium or canna is absurd and 

 no one does such a thing now. If a 

 plant is going to stay in a pot but a 

 few weeks or even a few months and is 

 necessarily a quick and strong rooter like 

 a lily there is no need of any drainage. 

 In the case of plants that may stay a 

 year, or perhaps two or three years, in 

 the same pot, if you were sure that the 

 water was always going to pass freely 

 away as it does in the first month or two, 

 there would be no need of drainage, 

 but worms get in and work the soil into 

 a putty state, or the soil gets so packed 

 at the bottom of the pot that water does 

 not pass away freely. 



Much as plants enjoy the watering 

 when in need of it, terrestrial plants 



Dracaena Lindenii. 



DRAINAGE. 



There is nothing much more puzzling 

 to the beginner in floriculture than the 

 word drainage when applied to potted 



don t exactly feed on it. The water 

 passes away, leaves the soil moist and 

 full of moist air spaces, which the roots 

 are continually absorbing till it is gone 

 and they want more. See how easy it 



