32 STOVE- AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



condition for purposes of propagation. These may merely be notched 

 below every second leaf previous to inserting in the sand bed later on. 

 Plants growing in pots or tubs have much firmer growth, well ripened, 

 with the leaves quite close together ; elegantly suitable for providing 

 tops which may be rooted in large pieces and make salable plants in a 

 short time. To go about this operation successfully make preparations 

 during the first half of August by tying the growths to supports. Those 

 which answer the purpose best are pieces of wire stakes tied along the 

 stem, then at the point where it is desired to root the pieces remove just 

 enough of the leaves and make an incision in the stem upward toward 

 the growing point. Insert a little sphagnum moss, wait a day or so, 

 remove the moss; bathe with warm water to remove the congealed sap, 

 which, if left, will hinder a complete callusing of the cut part. Insert 

 fresh moss and tie a handful over the incision; keep moist until the roots 

 are showing through. The pieces should then be cut off, put in small 

 pots and placed in a close stucture for a few days until the roots begin 

 to take with the soil. Syringe only during that period. This is a very 

 important point. After potting either mossed shoots or cuttings (if 

 the soil is in a good working condition; that is, neither too wet nor dry) 

 absolutely no water should be given for a day or two; the atmosphere 

 kept moist, and an occasional syringing will be all that is necessary. 



House=Qrown Plants— Rubber plants which are grown all Summer in 

 a house in a moist, high temperature, have a very different appear- 

 ance from those which are grown out-of-doors in the full sun, and the 

 difference is by no means in favor of the house-grown stock. The 

 leaves are naturally weaker, without the well-developed appearance of 

 the outdoor grown plants, and if the root conditions of the outside 

 plants are perfect, with a good mulch over the sunken pots, the growth 

 will be every bit as rapid in young plants, if not more so, with the 

 addition of a constitution which enables them to stand a whole Winter 

 in a dwelling house without injury. The variegated rubbers are indoor 

 plants, as they are apt to get scorched by the sun's rays unless given a 

 partially shaded situation. For keeping stock plants of these varie- 

 gated varieties it will be found a good plan to have them in rather 

 small pots and encourage roots from the stems, especially from those of 

 old plants. These stem roots, when they get among a mixture of ma- 

 nure and moss between the pots, or even among wet gravel, make 

 astcnishing growth, causing the plants to give an abundant supply of 

 material for cuttings, which they are otherwise slow to do when grown 

 in the ordinary way. Cuttings notched for a few weeks, tak5n off and 

 placed in sand with a brisk bottom heat, root quickly. Rubber plants 

 will keep in a dormant state even in a high temperature, with abundant 

 humidity in the atmosphere, by being kept dry at the roots. 



Indoor Rubbers for Stock Plants— Reserve a place at the end 

 of a warm house for large over-grown plants. They make quicker 

 growth indoors during the warm months than they do outside, and for 

 the purposes of single-eye cuttings, the wood is preferable, as the spaces 

 between the leaves are longer. They should be planted in a solid bed. 

 If the old soil be unsuitable remove it to a depth of about 18 inches; 

 put some broken brick, clinkers or stones in the bottom for drainage, 



