STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 27 



nalis. Especially from the last-named species many varieties have been 

 raised. Propagation is quickest brought about by cutting up the long 

 stems into pieces about 3 inches in length; put in warm sand and keep 

 moderately damp. They will throw up shoots from each eye; these 

 should be taken off and put in the sand to form strong, fresh roots, as 

 they are provided, when attached to the parent stem, only with very 

 weak roots and sometimes none at all. They will root quickly, and 

 may be potted according to their size, in 2 or 3-inch pots, and grown on 

 quickly in a high temperature. When they rea^h a marketable 

 size the hardening-off process is necessary, or they will not stand long 

 when used for decorating. In C. neo-caledonica, C. brasiliensis and C. 

 amabilis the thickened root stocks may be cut up into pieces along with 

 the stems for propagation. C. cannaefolia does not succeed so well when 

 cut up into small pieces. It is a splendid decorative plant, standing 

 much rough usage. Moss the tops and afterward place pieces of the 

 stems, at least a foot long, in the bench of a cool house, as they take 

 their own time in sending up growths. The species and forms with 

 highly colored foliage will need a minimum temperature in Winter of at 

 least 55 degrees. The others will succeed with the thermometer 15 

 degrees lower. With the greenhouse kinds loam should predominate in 

 the potting soil, but the others should get a greater quantity of leaf soil. 

 For other kinds commonly grown see Dracaena. 



CROTON The Croton or Codiaeum, as it is now called, has in the 

 warmer parts of the country forged its way to the front as a choice bed- 

 ding plant, and very deservedly so, as the species and varieties are a 

 very satisfactory class of plants and much easier to handle than was 

 generally supposed a few years ago, when they were coddled all the year 

 round in hothouses. Several of the kinds are so easily grown that they 

 can be got up with as little -trouble and as cheaply as geraniums; but 

 they are, of course, not the choicest varieties. Those stock plants which 

 were planted out early in May (that is a safe period here, but, of course, 

 later in colder latitudes) will, by the middle of August, have made good 

 ripened wood, which should beselected for propagating early in Septem- 

 ber. The cuttings at that period should be large and put in the bed 

 with only a few of the lower leaves removed. Let them form quite a 

 large bunch of roots in the propagating bed before being potted, as they 

 are a trifle miffy to take with the soil when they have only a scanty 

 supply of roots enough to comfortably fill a 4-inch pot will be about 

 right. Those plants will need shifting during the Winter, and if kept in 

 a warm, moist house, will be well furnished plants in 5 and 6-inch pots 

 by bedding out time. The principal batch of the commoner kinds for 

 bedding may be put in by the middle of January. The old plants which 

 were lifted from the beds in the Fall should be pruned back severely, and 

 all the growth available for propagating selected. A good bottom 

 heat and a humid atmosphere are necessary to root the cuttings at 

 this time, as the wood is not in a very ripe condition. Cuttings put in 

 at any time should not be taken from plants which are dry at the root, 

 as they are then apt to lose leaves in the cutting bed. Cuttings 8 or 10 

 inches in length root as easily as the easiest rooting soft-wooded plants 

 if given a good bottom heat and a depth of 4 or 5 inches of sand. There' 



