366 GENERAL REVIEW. 



and seedlings or hybrids of these might prove to be improve- 

 ments on existing varieties. Old plants of D. congcsta, JD. 

 fragrans, D. cannczfolia, and others, flower very freely in a 

 warm greenhouse temperature. The tall-growing species or 

 varieties may be propagated by girdling the stem and sur- 

 rounding the cut portion with damp moss or soil, into which 

 roots are soon protruded, after which the top may be entirely 

 removed and potted, while the stem below may be cut up 

 into pieces of from 4 inches to 6 inches long, and these 

 pieces being laid horizontally in a hotbed or a propagat- 

 ing pit, and covered with light soil, push out in a very short 

 time numerous buds, one from above the scar of each leaf. 

 These form young shoots, which, when an inch or two in 

 length, are taken off with a little heel, and planted as cuttings 

 in sandy earth. They are kept rather close, and under such 

 conditions soon produce roots, and form independent plants. 

 The same mode of propagation may be adopted with any 

 plants of similar habit. It is, in fact, often had recourse to in 

 the case of Yuccas. 



D. hybrida. A very distinct seedling raised at the Chelsea 

 Nursery, and the first hybrid offered to the public. It is a 

 cross between D. magnified and D. albicans. Plant of medium 

 growth, with leaves averaging from 10 to 12 inches in length 

 by 3 in breadth. They are of a deep green colour, and, as 

 the plant attains age, become entirely suffused with deep rose 

 and creamy white, the older leaves being margined with bright 

 rose. The variegation shows itself whilst the plant is quite 

 young, and from its graceful habit and beautiful colouring, it is 

 exceedingly useful for decorative purposes. 



>. Taylorii. This is another of Messrs Veitch's seedlings, 

 its parents being D. Mooreana and D. magnified. It is very 

 robust in habit, having vigorous dark bronzy foliage, and a 

 more compact habit of growth than either of its parents. 



At a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, November 

 10, 1875, Mr John Wills exhibited thirty-six new seedling 

 Dracaenas which had been raised by one of his foremen, Mr F. 

 Bause, an intelligent propagator, who, when at Chiswick, elec- 

 trified horticulturists by a new race of Co/eus, these being fol- 

 lowed by a still finer golden-variegated race, and a batch of 

 very handsome golden-leaved Caladiums. It may interest 

 hybridisers to know that the parents of these plants were 

 hybridised, and the seedlings exhibited, in less than three 

 years. The seeds were sown August i, 1874, and the plants 

 some of them 2-3 feet in height were exhibited on Novem- 

 ber 10, 1875. These new Dracaenas were for the most part 



