Gardening for Amateurs 



821 



for any length of time in a room. The best 

 are N. exaltata, N. cordifolia compacta, X. 

 Piersoni and N. Fosteri. 



Indiarubber Plant (Ficus elastica). 

 The Indiarubber Plant is a member of the 

 Fig family, possessing large leathery green 

 leaves 9 to 18 inches in length and 4 to 

 6 inches broad. It is native of the East 

 Indies ; it has been cultivated in this country 

 in rooms and greenhouses since 1815. The 

 plants will stand the confinement of a room 

 well, being especially suitable for a bay 

 window. The writer has in mind a plant 

 8 feet in height, which had been grown in 

 the same bay window for twenty years. 

 Increase is by cuttings 9 inches or so in 

 length, inserted singly in small pots in spring 

 in a closed propagating frame. A suitable 

 mixture of soil for this Ficus is sandy loam, 

 peat, leaf-mould, and coarse sand. 



Ornithogalum longebracteatum. 

 Though a flowering plant, this Ornithogalum 

 is grown more for its curious green Onion- 

 like bulb and ornamental leaves, which are 

 rich green, up to 2 feet in length and 1 inch 

 to H inches wide. In a room the plants 

 do not often bloom. The flowers open in 

 May and are greenish-white, borne thirty or 

 more in a raceme 18 inches or so high. 

 Propagation is by offsets, which are potted 

 in ordinary loamy soil. The Onion Plant 

 is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and 

 was first introduced in 1817. The bulb is 

 as large as a Spanish Onion and often seen 

 in cottage windows, where it always appears 

 to thrive. 



Palms. Several members of the Palm 

 family are very good room plants, and thrive 

 ip rather gloomy positions, also in passage 

 and hall and on the staircase, where draughts 

 and changeable temperature are not very 

 favourable for plants. Palms are raised 

 from seeds, but if a warm greenhouse is not 

 available in which to sow the seeds, the 

 amateur would be well advised to purchase 

 small plants in preference to raising them 

 from seeds. A suitable compost consists of 

 equal parts loam, peat, leaf -mould and 

 coarse sand. With a little feeding once a 

 week in summer Palms may be kept in good 

 condition in comparatively small pots for 

 a number of years. Good stimulants are 

 soot water, Canary guano, and Clay's Fer- 



Mother of Thousands (Saxifraga sarmecttosa). 



tilizer. The best Palms for a room are 

 Phoenix Roebelinii, Kentia forsteriana, 

 Corypha australis, Geonoma gracilis, Co cos 

 Weddeliana and Chamaerops Trachycarpus 

 excelsa. 



Tradescantia zebrina. This is a go od 

 plant for a basket, having long trailing 

 growths which hang down over the pot, and 

 quite hide it. It is also useful for growing 

 in pots for placing near the edge of the 

 greenhouse stage, and will even thrive under- 

 neath. It has small, insignificant, rosy- 

 purple flowers. Tradescantia thrives in a 

 light sandy soil, and is readily propagated 

 by cuttings inserted under a bell-glass in 

 spring or summer. 



FLOWERING PLANTS 

 Aloe frutescens. In a sunny window 

 this proves an interesting and attractive 

 plant. The grey-green spiny leaves are 

 ornamental throughout the year, while 

 during summer the plants are much admired 

 when their orange-red tubular blossoms are 

 open. Propagation is by cuttings, which 



