STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 55 



ing bed having a brisk bottom heat. The large, succulent and easily 

 broken roots which the cuttings make, being confined within the pots, 

 will be nicely preserved by shaking out the sand and replacing it with 

 soil, or by being shifted into larger pots, as the cuttings will keep many 

 weeks in the sand after roots are made without injury. Stock plants, 

 which get too large and have an abundance of grassy side shoots, will 

 be encouraged to develop those if the young leaves of the main growth 

 be torn out. Young plants, plunged out-of-doors after the end of 

 May, should be examined from time to time, as the roots are apt to get 

 outside the pots; larger-sized pots should then be given and the plants 

 replunged. 



P. utilis is a green-leaved species, forming very handsome plants even 

 in small pots. It stands well in a dwelling house, but, like P. Veitchii, 

 must he kept on the dry side during the resting period. P. utilis is raised 

 from seeds which, if fresh, germinate well. The soil for both kinds should 

 be porous and enriched with a small quantity of bone meal. 



There are several other species, none of them grown largely, being 

 principally found in collections. P. javanicus variegatus is quite as 

 handsome as P. Veitchii, but needs more heat in Winter, besides the 

 hooked spines pointing two ways on each leaf is a feature very much 

 against it. P. Baptistii is a handsome variegated plant, but too soft 

 for use outside of a stove. The true P. graminifolius is not of much use 

 outside of collections. 



PARIS DAISIES For Winter blooming the cuttings should be put in 

 during late Spring. By the end of July they should get their last pot- 

 ting for the Summer, be pinched back and plunged, so as to make large 

 heads for Winter-flowering. These Daisies can be made to pay during 

 the dull months from the number of flowers which can be cut from 

 them. They are not so common as they might be, and Daisies in Winter 

 are very desirable flowers with some people. Large plants are useful 

 about Easter time. Left-over plants in Spring can be planted out to 

 furnish cuttings for Fall propagation, to give medium-sized plants in 

 flower for early Spring sales. 



PAULLINIA THALICTRIFOLIA is an elegant plant for clothing the 

 tops of unsightly tubs in which Palms and other plants are growing, 

 and also useful for large vases. It stands the sun well. The foliage 

 somewhat resembles the leaves of Adiantume. Cuttings root best in 

 September in the warm propagating bed. 



PHORMIUM TENAX and its forms are rather stiff-looking plants, espe- 

 cially in a young state; older plants furnished with an abundance of 

 foliage are more attractive. To increase, plant out in very sandy soil in 

 May and divide in September. 



PERESKIAS These are seldom grown for their value as decorative 

 subjects. The flowers of several of the species are of a rather pleasing 

 appearance, but they last only a short time and are not freely produced. 

 Two of the species, P. aculeata and P. Bleo, are common in cultivation, 

 and are used chiefly as stocks for the gaudy-flowered Epiphyllums, 

 which see for treatment. 



