12 STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



shade at all times, lightest in Winter. The potting mixture should be 

 rough, fibry peat, sphagnum, decayed cow manure and sand, except for 

 A. Scherzerianum, which needs less sphagnum and more peat. Water 

 should be copiously supplied in the growing season. Toward the end of 

 January, with increasing sun heat, these plants will soon commence 

 active growth for the season. Before this takes place they should be 

 looked over for the purpose of repotting or for rooting any tall or strag- 

 gling growths which have grown away from the sphagnum in the pot. 

 In this condition the roots, which are formed at the bases of the lea 

 stems, shrivel up for want of moisture and the plant becomes shy in 

 blooming. Cutoff the shoots that are in this condition and put in a 

 mixture of sphagnum and sand in a warm part of tbe propagating 

 bench; keep moist and roots will form in abundance in about three 

 weeks, when they should be potted up in the usual way. Old plants 

 should have the lower part of the stem and roots removed and sunk 

 lower in the pot, using a mixture of fibrous peat, sphagnum, well decom- 

 posed cow manure, charcoal and sand. This treatment applies only to 

 such kinds as A. Andreanum, A. ornatum and their numerous hybrid 

 progeny, all of which produce very showy flowers which may be used to 

 advantage associated with those of orchids. Their cultivation is 

 exceedingly simple where sufficient heat is at command, a minimum tem- 

 perature of 65 degrees F. being necessary. 



APONOQETON DISTACHYON— This is not a greenhouse plant, but, 

 where opportunities offer, it certainly should be grown as such. It is 

 known as the Cape Pond Weed. The flowers, arranged much in the same 

 way as those of the Ouvirandra, have large, showy white bracts; very 

 sweet smelling. In its native haunts the seeds germinate on the surface 

 of the water, forming very small tubers which, when the leaves decay, 

 sink to the bottom of the pond and become established there. 



ARALIA — Aralia Veitchii and A. gracillima are readily rooted if the 

 cuttings are taken at the proper time; that is, when young shoots 

 develop on a cut-back plant, and they are removed with a heel and kept 

 in a close, warm propagating frame. But this is a slower method than 

 grafting if the necessary stocks are at hand. A. Guilfoylei, or any of the 

 woody species of Panax, make good enough stock on which to work 

 them.' Select long, wiry wood for cions — that which is not too thick 

 and well ripened. In the cions a piece of the stem to each leaf is all that 

 is necessary. Cut the stock clear across and down to as near the soil as 

 possible; make an incision in it downward for three-quarters of an inch. 

 Make the wood of the cion wedge-shaped to fit the incision, and tie to 

 keep in position till united, during which process they should be kept in 

 a rather warm, humid atmosphere— a moderately warm propagating 

 frame will answer. The leaves of the cions, if too large, should be short- 

 ened back a little. March is the best month In which to perform the 

 operation. 



Aralia Chabrierii, so called, strikes so readily from cuttings put in a 

 cool house that there is no necessity for grafting them. 



Aralia (Fatsia) japonica is conceded to be one of the best plants for 

 decorative purposes, but like several other good things in this line it is 



