164. Notes and Gleanings. 



y^CHMEAS : HOW TO FLOWER THEM FREELY. — The ^climeas are stove 

 herbaceous perennials of comparatively recent introduction ; but from the ready 

 manner in which they may be propagated, and the desire of all who see them in 

 bloom to become possessed of them, they have become very extensively distrib- 

 uted. No great amount of success, however, would seem to have followed this 

 general desire to become possessors of them ; as to see them growing and flow- 

 ering well is the exception rather than the rule. This is too generally attributeil 

 to a deficiency of heat, than which no greater mistake can be made. 



To do them justice, they must have, when freely growing, an atmosphere v^ell 

 charged with humidity, and an average temperature of 60° to 75°. They require 

 little or no shading. This, an average stove temperature about April, at which 

 time they are forming fresh shoots, is quite sufficient to perfect their growth. 

 This accomplished, which, in a general way, will carry them on to about the 

 middle of May or the beginning of June, the customary aridity of their native 

 habitats must be artificially imitated. When it is desired to make specimen- 

 plants produce all the flowers possible, place them in the most exposed, the hot- 

 test, and the dryest position in the stove, and withhold water from them entirely. 

 In this way, their vital energies are to be taxed for a month or six weeks, or, in- 

 deed, until they show obvious symptoms of suffering ; and this will be found to 

 induce them to form embryo flower-buds at the bottom of their cup-like growths. . 

 When this check has induced them to assume a state preparatory to flowering, 

 treatment exactly the reverse of that last described must be suddenly entered 

 upon. Abundance of water must be given to the roots, and the leaves must be 

 syringed frequently ; but water should not be allowed at this stage to stand in 

 the cup-like formations previously alluded to, as it not unfrequently causes the 

 embryo flower-spikes to rot away where young. 



I have long practised another very simple method of flowering these plants 

 in small pots, and in a form most suitable for in-door decoration, whether for the 

 drawing-room or dinner-table, for either of which they are well adapted. About 

 the middle of May, or between that and the second or third week in June, young 

 shoots of the current season's growth are to be taken from the parent plant by 

 cutting them off at the base, and afterwards laying them on their sides, in any 

 convenient position in the stove, cucumber-house, Or frame, for a fortnight or 

 three weeks ; after which they are to be potted singly and firmly into 48-sized 

 pots, in a compost formed of peat, potsherds, and silver sand. They are to be 

 treated subsequently in every respect like established plants. They come into 

 flower from November to January, at a time when good plants suitable for in- 

 door decoration are scarce. It should be well understood that the object in thus 

 laying them upon their sides for a time is to induce the formation of tiie embryo 

 flowers, and that the check thus given tends to secure this desideratum. By 

 treating Bilbergias and Tillandsias in a similar manner, a like success maybe 

 realized. IVilliain Ear'ey. 



Difference in the Market. — While native strawberries were selling in 

 Boston for one dollar per quart, they could be bought in Philadelphia for from 

 ten to fifteen cents the quart. 



