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CULT/VATIOX AND AXALlSrS OF PLANTS. 



buds and flowers making its splendors conspicuous at a very considerable distance. The 

 large, trifid leaves and general robust habit of the plant also add their attractions. As a 

 window plant it is a fine ornament, but requires more root-room than can ordinarily he 

 allowed it. A rich, black or yellow loam well stirred up is the best soil for this plant, 

 though it will grow in almost any kind of earth. In the summer months the growing 

 plants must have a fair supply of water; and be taken up before or soon after the first 

 slight frost. If allowed to endure the early frost, they should be previously protected by 

 four or five inches of extra soil around the roots. During the winter they may be kept 

 in any dry cellar, protected from frost, but not wholly deprived of moisture; a covering 

 of moss or damp sand around the dormant roots will meet this requirement. Early in 

 summer, say in May, they may be set out for the season, care being taken to protect them 

 in the colder latitudes from the later frosts, when they will bloom from June to October. 

 They can be propagated from cuttings of small shoots or raised from the seed; but those 

 who want large plants soon will find it most convenient to buy them already in an 

 advanced condition from the florists. Good, large, specimen plants of the E. crista-galli, 

 wliich is the favorite species, are commonly sold at a verv moderate price. 



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FTTTONI^. 



ITTONIA is a very ornamental plant of the Bottle-brush tribe, a 

 ^ subdivision of the Myrtle family, and is largely utilized for hanging- 

 ^1 It baskets, ferneries and Wardian cases, where the atmosphere is moist 

 md still. It can, however, be grown as a single specimen, in a sepa- 

 ate pot or among other plants, indoors where any extra shade is pro- 

 i^ \ ided ; but the Wardian case or glass shade seems to be its especial delight. 

 The fine white or purplish-red streaks of the leaves make them an attractive 

 amental plant. They require great care in cultivation, and should never be 

 ubjected to drafts, hot or cold. A very good soil for them is about equal parts of 

 hopped sphagnum, or bog-moss, peat-earth, potsherds and charcoal, well mixed, 

 satives of the bogs or quagmires of the tropics, they require a large amount of 

 well as moisture, all the year round; they cannot be grown where the atmosphere 

 falls below sixty. In favorable circumstances the Fittonia will spread itself freely, but it 

 can easily be controlled by the usual method of pinching or cutting out when it encroaches 

 where it is not wanted. This plant mixed with some of the Lycopodiums, especially the 

 Selaginellas, constitute very pretty parlor ornaments under glass shaikh, and will require 

 very little water if the glass is left on, as what they evaporate, being iicld within the case, 

 condenses and is again absorbed. During the hot weather, however, they should receive 

 an occasional sprinkling or syringing with tepid soft water. In cold weather, when there 

 is risk of the temperature going below sixty degrees, they should be wrapped in paper, 

 flannel, a shawl, or whatever is most convenient. Their worth and beauty will compen- 

 sate for the extra care they require; but careless amateurs cannot well succeed with these 

 delicate exotics. There are three species, all desirable, in general cultivation. 



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