Stove and Greenhouse Plants and Flowers 139 



then potted up singly in 3-in. pots in good sandy loam and leaf mould. 

 The temperature at night is about 60 F., rising 5 or 10 degrees by day. 

 The young plants are encouraged to grow quickly in the genial warmth, 

 and are moistened overhead with the syringe in the afternoon when the 

 ventilators are closed for the night. When large enough the plants are 

 either transferred to 5-in. or 6-in. pots, or they may be planted out in 

 June in nicely prepared soil in the open air. The tips of the shoots are 

 pinched out at intervals after the first potting, to induce a good bushy 

 habit, as this does away with the necessity of staking and tying the 

 plants. During active growth the plants require plenty of moisture at 

 the root, and a nice sprinkling overhead daily is also beneficial. They 

 also like plenty of air and sunshine to ripen the growths and thus 

 prepare them for bearing masses of bloom. Besides the varieties men- 

 tioned above, others are: intermedia, pink; Laura, rose; Mrs. Green, 

 salmon; rosea multiflora, rose pink; The Bride, blush white all single; 

 and President Garfield, pink, and Schmidti, flesh pink doubles. 



Bromeliads. Although a fairly large trade is done in these plants 

 on the Continent, for some reason or another they have never become 

 popular in British gardens. Here and there, outside botanical establish- 

 ments, one may meet with a more or less bedraggled specimen of an 

 ^Echmea, Billbergia, Caraguata, Tillandsia, or a variegated form of Pine- 

 apple (Ananas), but the trade in them is practically nil. And yet they 

 are graceful evergreen plants with conspicuous spikes or drooping racemes 

 of gorgeously coloured flowers and bracts. Most of them flourish in a 

 sandy peat, require plenty of heat and moisture, and are propagated by 

 means of suckers and from seeds. 



Brunfelsia (Franeisea). A small trade is done in these shrubby 

 plants with evergreen leathery leaves and flattish blue or purple flowers. 

 The best -known kind is B. calycina, of which there are many garden 

 forms, including eximea, macrantha, and violacea. They grow well in 

 a compost of sandy loam and peat, and like a stove temperature and a 

 humid atmosphere. They are easily raised from cuttings, and nice bushy 

 flowering plants can be obtained in 5-in. pots in about twelve months. 



Cacti. For market purposes small specimens are chiefly grown in pots 

 varying from 1J-3 in.; larger specimens, if required, may usually be picked 

 out from among the stock plants. A stock of varieties is easily raised 

 from seed and cuttings. Both may be obtained from F. A. Haage, jun., 

 Erfurt, Germany, or from Franz de Laet, Contich, Belgium. 



If seedlings are to be raised, the best time to sow is in February, in 

 a temperature of 65-70 F. The soil should consist of 3 parts turfy loam, 

 1 part sand, and J part each of peat and leaf mould. Well-crocked 

 6-in. pots should be filled to within 1 in. of the top, scalded with boiling 

 water, and then the seed sown thinly on top and lightly covered with 

 soil. A sheet of glass may be used to cover the pots, or, better still, 

 a small pit may be made for them in the house. An even temperature 

 must be maintained, and the soil kept uniformly moist. The seeds ought 



