THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



2J3 



At the same time it is most essential 

 that the little plants should have the 

 fullest light, for if you start off with a 

 drawn, spindling plant you have seri 

 ously handicapped your future success. 



Now, all the points related above are 

 easy to follow, but the great thing is 

 to follow them faithfully. A watch 

 maker can throw down his tools, leave 

 his watch for a week, then return and 

 take up his task with the loss only of 

 time; but you can t leave a week or 

 a day, or hardly an hour. It is the 

 care and watchfulness and everlasting 

 attention and thoughtfulness that make 

 the gardener, far more than scientific 

 action, either mental or physical. 



Don t blame the seedsman always. 

 I must at the cost of being thought 

 egotistical say that for years I never 

 blamed a seedsman when perhaps I had 

 a reason. I blamed my own clumsiness 

 and carelessness. 



The man who has charge of the seeds 

 should be given plenty of time, for he 

 needs it. 



small and deep green in color, and it 

 not only forms a very pretty plant in 

 a 4-inch or 5-inch pot, but is also well 

 adapted for growing into a large ex 

 hibition specimen, or for use among 

 foliage plants in a veranda-box, the 

 branches of this plant often reaching a 

 height of eighteen inches or more. 



S. Martensii is another well-known 

 and deserving species, the flat branch- 

 lets of which are quite effective among 

 the plants in a table fernery. This 

 species is very easy to increase by 

 means of cuttings, these being potted 

 up at once in light, sandy soil without 

 the preliminary treatment of the cut 

 ting bed, and only require to be kept 

 moist and sheltered from too much sun 

 and air until they take root. 



This species has also provided us 

 with one of the best variegated forms 

 found among the selaginellas, namely, 

 S. Martensii var., the branchlets of 

 which are variably marked with white. 

 S. Martensii var. also roots readily from 

 cuttings, it being necessary, however, 



Selaginella Cuspidata. 



SELAGINELLA. 



Among the large number of species 

 (over 300 in all) of the selaginellas, 

 there are comparatively few that are 

 used in the trade, notwithstanding the 

 fact that there are several of the spe 

 cies easily procurable and readily 

 ijrown into very attractive pot plants. 

 It is true that selaginellas in general 

 prefer moisture and shade, and in con 

 sequence are somewhat tender in foli 

 age, but this rule does not hold good in 

 all cases, some of the species bearing 

 exposure fully as well as many of the 

 commercial species of ferns. 



An example of this is found in S. 

 Braunii, a Chinese species that has been 

 Jong in cultivation and that is fre 

 quently though incorrectly labeled S. 

 AVilldenovii. The branches of this spe- 

 &amp;lt;-ies are very tough and wiry, the leaves 



to select well variegated pieces in order 

 to perpetuate the variegation. 



The freak of variegation is not con 

 fined to S. Martensii, for it also ap 

 pears in the common S. Kraussiana var., 

 and also in S. involvens, the latter 

 being quite prolific in singular forms. 



S. Kraussiana, also known as S. den- 

 ticulata, is perhaps the most familiar 

 example of this interesting family, and 

 is one of the most useful plants we 

 have for carpeting the surface of the 

 soil beneath other plants, or for beauti 

 fying otherwise bare spaces beneath 

 the benches of a conservatory. 



S. cuspidata is another useful spe 

 cies, a plant of which is illustrated 

 herewith. It will be readily noted that 

 this illustration bears some resemblance 

 to S. Emmeliana, a variety that has been 

 very largely grown for a few years 

 past for filling table ferneries, and the 



explanation of this is found in the fact 

 that S. Emmeliana is simply a form of S. 

 cuspidata. Cuttings of this species soon 

 take root in sand or sandy soil, and be 

 come compact, tufted, little plants in a 

 few months when grown in an ordinary 

 fern house. 



S. viticulosa illustrates another form 

 of growth that we find in this diverse 

 family, this species being better 

 adapted for use as a pot plant than 

 to be mingled in a fernery, its branch- 

 lets being large and standing up like 

 the fronds of a fern. These branchlets 

 are thrown up from creeping stems 

 and do not root readily, consequently 

 the propagation of this plant usually 

 depends upon division, or from spores. 

 A good idea of this handsome species 

 may be had from the accompanying 

 illustration. 



S. serpens is a singular member of 

 this family that is quite common in 

 gardens and forms a dense mat of 

 closely rooting branchlets on the sur 

 face of the soil. The great peculiarity 

 of this species is found in its changes 

 of color during the day, the foliage be 

 ing bright green in the morning, but 

 gradually becoming much paler, as 

 though bleached by the light, finally 

 resuming its lively green hue at night./ 



Of the selaginellas that are especially 

 valuable for private collections or for 

 exhibition purposes a long list might 

 easily be made, and prominent among 

 them should be mentioned such beautiful 

 species as S. Wallichii, S. Vogelii, S. 

 Lyallii, S. Willdenovii, that very strong 

 growing scandent species with the strong, 

 metallic tints on its foliage, a species 

 that has been tossed about on the waves 

 of nomenclature, being sometimes S. 

 caesia arborea, again S. laevigata, and 

 finally S. Willdenovii. Also S. hsema- 

 todes, S. atroviridis, and S. rubricaulis, 

 all of which are worthy of more ex 

 tended cultivation, though not all are 

 quite so easy to manage as the few we 

 have specially referred to for com 

 mercial purposes. \V. H. T. 



SHADING. 



I have had occasion to mention shad 

 ing many times in reference to plants 

 that need it under glass. We are as 

 yet without any portable shading that 

 can be adjusted to our commercial 

 greenhouses. The wooden slat shading 

 applied to some private conservatories 

 is out of the question for the commercial 

 man, and if expense did not forbid, it 

 is too dense. 



Many of our plants that thrive in 

 the broad sun will burn up under 

 unshaded glass. This last July, having 

 occasion to remove the glass in a 

 house to paint and reglaze, we left 

 many plants standing on the benches 

 fully exposed to sun and air. Among 

 them I noticed Primula obconica ami 

 P. Forbesii and several kinds of flower 

 ing begonias. Before the glass was 

 put on again, perhaps three weeks, the 

 plants had made a great improvement 

 in their growth, strong and robust. 

 If the glass had been on without shad 

 ing it would have been a different 

 story. 



