116 THE TREE PROPAGATOR AND PLANTER. 



plant forms an object worthy of a good house. Some 

 use it for beds, but upon the whole it is not robust 

 enough for this climate, nor is it of a character well 

 adapted for this purpose. 



The propagation of this genus consists in the same 

 treatment as for the Erytkrina, by crown cuttings 

 inserted in fine sand} r peat and fine leaf-mould, plunged 

 in a mild bottom heat. These cuttings will soon root, 

 when they should be potted off, using GO-sized pots, and 

 kept in a good house, being stopped early to form 

 bushy plants. They may also be propagated by cuttings 

 of the roots. They should be grown moderately free, 

 and kept clean. 



The Coleus (Lamiaceat). 



The Coleus is properly a hothouse plant ; still it may 

 be successfully grown in any good ordinary greenhouse 

 through the winter, if a moderate heat is kept up, and 

 the house kept close. It is used for bedding, but it 

 is not every season that is hot enough for it. It 

 makes splendid specimens when grown in large pots, 

 and if frequently stopped. 



Its propagation consists in striking points of the 

 shoots in heat in the spring, and inserting them in 

 pots of fine peat and maiden soil of equal parts. The 

 cuttings strike very freely. 



By Seed. — The seed of the Coleus is very fine, and 

 should be sown on the surface of a seed-pan filled with 

 fine peat and maiden soil, and some leaf-mould. First 

 fill the pan with the compost, make it firm, and then 

 water the surface and sow the seed ; slightly cover it 

 with fine soil, and lay a square of fiat glass over the 

 pan, and set it in a lively heat. 



Ferns {Greenhouse). 



The greenhouse Ferns are a most useful and beautiful 

 class. As a type of the Maiden-hair section, we may 

 refer to Farleyense, evidently a variety of Cuneatum, 

 and this is no doubt the ne plus ultra among this class. 



