The Handling of Stove Plants 233 



weather some ventilation had better be left 

 all the time. Both top and bottom ventilators 

 should be provided — the lower ones being used 

 only during hot weather. 



If ground glass is used in the roof, no shading 

 will be required except in summer. This should 

 be entirely removed early in October — ^a strong 

 light helps to bring out the bright coloring on 

 the foliage of stove plants. A mixture of kero- 

 sene oil and white lead makes a suitable shading. 



The roof of a stove house need never be un- 

 attractive, but it is unwise to train up too many 

 climbers as they will darken the house for the 

 other inmates, but space can probably be found 

 to run up such plants as Allamanda Hendersonii 

 or Schotii, Bougainvillea Sanderiana and ama- 

 bilis, Aristolochia, Stephanotis floribunda, Cle- 

 rodendron Balfourii, and others beautiful and 

 showy. 



Should there, perchance, be an end or side wall 

 of brick or stone, these can be covered with Ficus 

 repens, a quick and close-clinging climber, or, 

 better still, the same may be covered with wire 

 netting fastened to strips of wood an inch thick, 

 which can be spiked to the walls. The inside of 

 the netting can be closely packed with moss and 

 fern fibre, and planted with a miscellaneous as- 

 sortment of green- and colored-leaved plants. 



