28 . STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



is no necessity to have a frame; the open propagating bed will answei 

 nicely. Those plants which are intended to be planted out-of-doors 

 should have the hardening-off process begun by the end of April; if 

 taken directly from a hothouse the bottom leaves will fall off. Old 

 plants which did duty during the Summer months as bedders,and which 

 were planted out instead of being plunged in pots, should be kept well 

 syringed after being potted and housed, as they are very liable to the 

 attacks of thrips and red spider. When plants intended to be lifted in 

 the Fall are put out in May, I believe it is the best plan to sink pot and 

 all. They seem to thrive best with restricted root room so that when 

 lifted, although a few roots may be developed on top and outside the 

 pot, it is safer when lifted to shift them into larger pots than to lift and 

 pot plants which have been growing in the soil of the bed. With these 

 it is almost certain to be the case that a considerable number of leaves 

 will be lost. Most of the finer kinds will need a temperature of at least 

 60 degrees by night, keeping the air moist and giving water by frequent 

 syringings. Large cuttings in the sand bed or propagating frame should 

 be examined now and then, to guard against thrips and red spider. If 

 these pests appear, a syringing with a weak solution of the old reliable 

 Gishurt's Compound will prove beneficial. 



Ringing Crotons This simple operation is brought into requisition 

 when it is desired to root the top part of any particularly fine specimen. 

 The stem of the parent plant may be destitute of leaves for a considera- 

 ble distance above the pot, making the plant comparatively useless as a 

 specimen and only useful as a stock plant. Ringing, if successfully per- 

 formed, will give an almost perfect plant a foot or so high with large 

 leaves right down to the soil a condition we can hardly hope for from 

 cuttings. Moreover, the rooted top sends out such a mass of working 

 roots that the succeeding growth is not stunted, but continues making 

 leaves every bit as large as the lowest ones a condition much to be 

 desired when an evenly built up plant is wanted. Plants, then, should 

 be selected which have good, healthy tops with finely-colored, well- 

 developed leaves, and if the bottom part near the pot has lost its leaves 

 this is the only use it can be put to. The house in which the operation 

 is peformed should be a warm one and shaded from the sun, so that the 

 material used to produce roots will not dry up too quickly. Select 

 those pieces which are dormant or have made their growth, because if 

 plants are taken during the process of making leaves they are bound to 

 carry some disfigurement afterward. The stem at the place to be rooted 

 should be denuded of the leaves for two or three inches of its length, and 

 with a sharp knife remove a small section of the bark; or, just as good, 

 make an incision in the wood up ward of about three-quarters of an inch 

 in length, and in depth from one-third to one-half the diameter of the 

 stem. Insert a little sphagnum moss to keep the incision open, then tie 

 a small quantity around it, not too much or it will be apt to keep too 

 wet. After being tied small enough, so that the fingers can easily close 

 on it, stand the plant back in its place and see that the moss does not 

 suffer for want of water, because should this happen the tender tips of 

 the roots will be lost and the process of rooting will to a certain extent 

 have to be begun again. 



