THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



15 



which you have only to cut off and 

 pot. 



The rarer species are too expensive 

 for the commercial florist and in too 

 little demand, and the larger species 

 require too much labor and room to be 

 of any profit; they are best left in the 

 hands of the private gardener. 



AGERATUM. 



Since the wane of the carpet bedding 

 and the return of the popular flower- 

 ing plants to flower garden favor the 

 ageratum has been in constant demand. 

 A. Mexicanum is the only species in 

 which we are interested. By selec- 

 tion many improvements have been 

 made, a more spreading and dwarf 

 plant has been produced as well as a 

 variation in color. It is well to try 

 the new varieties as they are dissemi- 

 nated as they are very inexpensive 

 and frequently great improvements 

 on existing varieties. 



I have found that when propagated 

 by cuttings for a few years a variety 

 will often lose its character and grad- 

 ually revert back to the original type. 

 If I were asked what was the easiest 

 of all plants to propagate I would say 

 that the ageratum was absolutely the 

 one, and so it is. Nothing but the 

 most willful neglect will cause a batch 

 of cuttings to fail. New varieties are, 

 of course, raised from seed, which can 

 be sown in January and the seedlings 

 will flower freely by the following 

 June. 



It is by cuttings that our varieties 

 are perpetuated. Lift a few old plants 

 and pot into 5 or 6-inch pots before 

 frost. Keep them cool and light till 

 after Christmas, when you can begin 

 propagating. It is well, however, not 

 to propagate too early as the plants 

 get stunted when not shifted on and 

 it does not by any means pay to have 

 this cheap bedding plant in larger 

 than 3-inch, or at most 4-inch pots. 

 The cuttings root freely with or with- 

 out bottom heat and the plants grow 

 rapidly in a temperature of 50 degrees. 

 Their only enemy is red spider, which 

 must be kept down by frequent sy- 

 ringing and the weekly fumigation. 



New varieties of both the blue and 

 white are being constantly sent out. 

 The dwarf, compact sorts are the most, 

 valuable. The variegated variety of 

 Mexicanum is of little value. 



ALLAMANDA. 



Few plants bring back childhood's 

 days more vivdly than the showy al- 

 lamanda. Though not a commercial 

 florist's flower it hardly has a rival as 

 a hot-house climber. The leaves are 

 sharp-pointed, oblong, and come three 

 or four in a whorl. The flowers are 

 funnel shaped, 3 to 5 inches across 

 and rich yellow. Allamandas are usu- 

 ally seen trained near the roof where 

 they do well and add greatly to the 

 beauty of the house. They are also 

 grown as specimens trained to a bal- 

 loon-shaped or flat wire frame 3 or 4 

 feet high. In a competition for a 

 number of flowering stove and green- 



house plants in any horticultural exhi- 

 bition in Europe the allamanda would 

 be sure to be one. The only use the 

 florist could make of the flowers, rich 

 and fine as they are, would be to take 

 sprays of the vine covered with 

 flowers for the decoration of mirrors 

 or chandeliers. For an elaborate 

 golden wedding they would be a glori- 

 ous acquisition. 



Plants covering a large roof space 

 would need a tub, and I have seen 

 them planted in the border at the end 

 of the house. A turfy loam with a 

 sixth of cow manure, adding a tenth of 

 charcoal to the compost, suits them 

 well. They are from Equatorial Amer- 

 ica, so you will know what they want 

 in temperature. Most of the species 

 flower in June and July, but Schottii, 

 one of the finest, flowers in August and 

 September. They are little troubled 

 by insects of any kind, syringing and 

 fumigating keeping them clean with- 

 out any trouble. In the spring and 

 summer they want lots of water; in 

 the darker winter months much less. 

 In our hot summers they require 

 shade from the brightest sun, but only 



or so of the last year's growth will 

 root easily in our ordinary propagat- 

 ing benches where there is a little bot- 

 tom heat, making each cutting with 

 two or three eyes. Remember they are 

 from the tropics and should not be 

 exposed to a lower temperature than 

 60 degrees at any time of the year. 



Of the several species and hybrids 

 the following can be selected as the 

 best: A. Chelsonii, yellow, large, 

 flowers in July; A. grandiflora, pale 

 yellow, large, flowers in June; A. no- 

 bilis, bright yellow, large, flowers in 

 July; A. Schottii, yellow, throat 

 striped with brown, very free bloomer, 

 the best known and best for all pur- 

 poses. 



ALOCASIA. 



These beautiful stove plants are 

 grown entirely for the beauty of their 

 leaves. They delight in our hot sum- 

 mers under glass and must not be al- 

 lowed to go below 60 degrees in the 

 winter months. They require shade 

 in the bright days of spring and sum- 

 mer, and where the house is heavily 

 shaded they will be greatly benefited 



Alocasia Metallica. 



enough to keep them from burning. 

 They like the light, which they get in 

 abundance when trained to the roof. 

 In the late winter months, before they 

 begin to grow, they should be pruned 

 back as we do our hot-house grape 

 vines, cutting back the previous year's 

 growth to two or three eyes. If you 

 wish to propagate them the last foot 



by a little fire heat at night. In 

 shaded houses during rainy weather 

 and cold nights, even in summer, 

 there is a dampness and stagnation 

 that is very uncongenial to most 

 plants, and exotics in particular 

 should have a little fire heat. 



The compost in which they delight is 

 one-third fibrous peat or Jadoo, one- 



