\T cvr.rivATioN axd ax alts is of plants. i\ 



manure, and one of sand. Cold moisture is pernicious to its roots, as is lime-water also; 

 pure rainwater, "little and often," is the best prescription, as the leaves of the plant will 

 curl up and become sickly if overdosed. It strikes root easily through small cuttings, say 

 an inch long, from young shoots, bedded in clean sand about half their length, the leaves 

 being carefully removed from the embedded part. After they have ceased flowering in 

 the house they should be removed in the spring, for their season of rest, to the north of a 

 fence or some low evergreen, as in that condition they delight in a partial shade. The 

 species generally recommended to amateur culturists is the M. odorata, which is the most 

 sweetly scented, as its name implies; but there are several other varieties also well worth v 

 of attention. The Hector has orange, and the Diana pink, flowers; and both are pretty, 

 highly ornamental and easily manageable shrubs, which will give good satisfaction, though 

 not so fra<;rant as the M. odorata. 



OLE^NnJER. 



^--^REATLY admired for the beauty of its bloom, this plant is scien- 

 1\J^ titically termed Nerium, from the Greek neros, humid, because of 

 i^/ ' its love of moisture. The familiar name Oleander is a corruption, 

 !s generally supposed, of the word Rhododendron, or Rose-tree, 

 ':ffr^^ from the similarity between its flowers and the smaller Roses. It 

 enjoys a very peculiar protection apparently against the sim's ravs, 

 triple coat of mail or three-fold epidermis, which is common to but very 

 'few other plants. A native of the Levant, it is found on the banks of the sacred 

 Jordan, as well as along other watei'-courses and muddy bottom-lands, where 

 there is a considerable accumulation of decaved vegetable matter. This, b}' the 

 usual rule of making artificial conditions approach as nearly as may be to natural 

 surroundings, suggests the value of peat-earth, leaf-mold, turfy loam or similar 

 their successful cultivation. Water in abundance, and unstinted supplies of liquid 

 as a substitute for the wet and decaying vegetable wreck to which they are natu- 

 rally accustomed, are also implied, and experimentally ascertained, to be necessarv to their 

 fullest development. In early summer they should be moved outdoors in northern latitudes, 

 and placed in some bed or border made up of the compost indicated, and freely manured, when 

 they will bloom abundantly, and better reward the cultivator than if kept after the usual 

 old-fashioned method in tubs or bo.xes. Toward the close of summer, in order to ripen 

 the wood of the Oleanders, the supply of water should he conslclcraliK curtailed, but not 

 so as to allow the soil to go entirely dust-dry. Great care '-hould be taken in this respect, 

 as these plants are slow to show injury, on account of the extra epidermis, and therefore 

 nothing should be left to chance. Oleanders are propagated freely from slips or cuttings 

 in the usual way, or by cuttings thrust into bottles or other convenient vessels containing 

 weak soapsuds or even common rainwater. In making these cuttings, which ought to 

 be from two to four inches long, the adhering leaves should be shortened or cut back one- 

 half. Layering can also be used, though it is not found so convenient; and thev can of 

 course be raised from the seed, flowering the second sea.-on. 



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