224 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 19, 1872. 



having a plot of ground to spare and a crown to spend. — 

 J. W., Lincoln. 



"WTNTEB-FLOWEBING PLANTS.— No. 4. 



MONOCE^TTJM ENSIFEBTJM. 



This is a free-growing evergreen shrub, with deep rose and 

 purple flowers produced from the points of the small twigs as 

 well as the strong shoots. It is of erect pyramidal habit, and 

 altogether of very neat habit. It succeeds admirably in a 

 moderate-sized pot ; a plant 2 feet high, and from 15 inches to 

 IS inches in diameter at the base can be grown well in a 7-inch 

 pot, and one 15 inches high in a 4J-inch pot. 



Monoehffitum ensiferum is one of many plants which require 

 an intermediate house. In catalogues it is classed both as a 

 stove and greenhouse plant, but treated as one of the latter 

 with me it does not thrive ; I therefore grow it in the stove. 

 We will commence by putting in cuttings of the young growths 

 in February or March, each about 3 or 4 inches long, with the 

 base a little firm. They are inserted singly in small pots filled 

 with a compost of equal parts of loam, leaf soil, peat, and 

 silver sand, and placed in a close frame, or covered with a 

 hand-glass in the stove. If the cuttings are kept in a bottom 

 heat of 75° to 80° they strike root more certainly and sooner 

 than without that assistance. I keep them in the close frame 

 until the plants have grown 6 inches or more high, and the pots 

 are full of roots ; they are then hardened off, and placed in a 

 light position in the stove, where they will have plenty of 

 moisture and a moderate amount of air. Shift them into 

 4£-inch pots by June, and they will grow rapidly. A neat stick 

 may be put in to keep the centre shoot steady and erect, and 

 without further trouble they will become pyramids. If, how- 

 ever, irregular growth takes place the plants must be regulated 

 by pinching, but not after July. 



If all go on well the plants may have 6 or 7-inch pots from 

 the middle of July to the beginning of August. The soil re- 

 commended for the cuttings will suit the plants, using it rather 

 rough, and potting firmly. After the middle of September 

 they should have no more water than will be sufficient to keep 

 them from flagging, otherwise they can hardly be kept too dry, 

 or have too light and airy a position. This will secure the 

 thorough ripening of the wood, and in a temperature of 45° to 

 55° they will commence to flower in November — some later — 

 and continue in good bloom for a long time. "When flowering 

 they need to be watered more freely than at other times, but 

 are always impatient of heavy supplies, especially during the 

 winter and spring months. After flowering they should be 

 sparingly supplied with water ; take off the requisite number 

 of cuttings, and then prune-in moderately. When the fresh 

 shoots are a few inches long repot the plants, encourage growth 

 by giving an abundance of moisture and heat, and afterwards 

 thoroughly ripen the wood by keeping them dry late in summer 

 in a light and airy position. These plants will be larger than 

 those from cuttings taken off early in spring, yet in my opinion 

 they are seldom if ever so free in growth. Monocha;tum 

 ensiferum is so liable to die off without apparent cause that 

 I shall in future raise my plants from seed, as such are freer 

 in growth, and otherwise superior to those from cuttings. 



POINSETTIA PTJLCHEKKIHA. 



This is deservedly admired and extensively grown for its 

 scarlet bracts, which from November to March are very useful 

 for decorative purposes. It is one of those subjects which 

 should be reared in quantity. It is most useful when it is 

 grown dwarf, and in small pots. 



Poinsettia pulcherrima is propagated in spring both by cut- 

 tings and eyes of the firm ripe wood after flowering, in either 

 case cutting below the eye, and for eyes leaving about an inch 

 of wood above, whilst a cutting will have two or more joints — 



1 consider two sufficient. The eyes should be buried in the 

 soil about an inch deep, and the cuttings inserted from 1J to 



2 inches deep in light sandy loam, on a hotbed of 75°. They 

 should be kept no more than moist, and when they have rooted 

 and are growing freely, withdraw them gradually from the 

 hotbed, and put them singly in 4-inch pots. As the roots are 

 very brittle, I insert the eyes and cuttings in 2-inch pots. 

 This prevents any loss of roots in potting, and the young 

 plants do not experience so great a check as by the other plan. 

 After potting, the plants should be placed near the glass in a 

 house where there is a moist growing atmosphere, and a tem- 

 perature of 65° at night and 75° to 85° by day. The most 

 suitable compost is light turfy loam two parts, one part each 

 leaf soil or old decayed manure, and sandy peat, with a sixth 



of silver sand. Drain well but not excessively, and water as 

 required. 



By the beginning of July the plants will require to be shifted 

 into larger pots, which may be 6 inches in diameter, potting 

 firmly. They must be stopped if they are expected to be dwarf ; 

 but this is the time when the cuttings for dwarf plants are put 

 in, and I therefore mark for this purpose the shoots that 

 would otherwise be stopped, and make cuttings of them. Com- 

 mencing at the top of the shoot I count downward two joints, 

 or from 3 to 4 inches from the growing point, and under the 

 nearest leaf to that length of shoot I cut half way through 

 with a sharp knife, and at every third leaf from this down- 

 wards a similar cut is made. These half-severed portions 

 remain on the plant about a fortnight, when they are com- 

 pletely separated from it. Then all we have to do is to remove 

 the lowest leaf, but even that I take off three or four days be- 

 fore separating the cuttings from the plant. They are inserted 

 singly in small pots, li to 2 inches deep, in very sandy loam, 

 plunging them in a bottom heat of 75°, keeping them close and 

 moist by covering them with a hand-light and shading them 

 from bright sun. They will soon strike root, and when they 

 begin to grow remove them from the hotbed by degrees, and 

 admit ah- gradually. When somewhat hardened shift them 

 into 4J-inch pots, employing the compost before named, and 

 place them near the glass in a house with a temperature of 

 60° to 65° at night, and 70° to 75° by day, with a rise to 80° or 

 90° from sun heat. The atmosphere can hardly be too moist, 

 only it must not be stagnant. 



When the roots reach the sides of the pot shift the plants 

 into 6-inch pots, well drained, and pot firmly, using the com- 

 post rather rough. Growth should be encouraged until the 

 end of September, when the plants may have a drier atmo- 

 sphere, and no more water than is sufficient to keep the 

 f oliage fresh. In all stages of their growth they cannot be kept 

 too near the glass as long as they do not touch it. 



After September the plants will succeed on a shelf in a house 

 with a temperature of 55° at night, and when they are coming 

 into flower, and the bracts begin to form, they may be watered 

 with weak liquid manure. They will continue in flower from 

 November, and will be succeeded by the plants stopped in 

 July, which will be of taller growth , but have heads of bracts 

 more numerous than those raised from summer cuttings. They 

 have but one or at most two flowering shoots, which are pro- 

 duced by those cuttings put in with three joints. The plants 

 propagated from cuttings or eyes in spring require to be kept 

 growing until the close of September, and should then have a 

 drier atmosphere. When in flower they continue longest in 

 a temperature of 45° to 50°, but must be kept rather dry. 



After flowering, the plants should be kept dry without allow- 

 ing the wood to shrivel, and about the middle of March cut 

 each shoot to within two or at most three eyes of its base ; 

 then water sparingly until the plants have broken, afterwards 

 more freely. Turn them out of the pots, removing most of the 

 old soil — in fact, all that comes away freely, and place in a 

 size of pot that will just hold the roots, using very sandy loam 

 for the first potting, and at subsequent pottings employing the 

 compost before named. The plants will now succeed all the 

 better if afforded for some time after potting a mild bottom 

 heat and a close moist atmosphere, and will afterwards do 

 well in a light and airy position. If bushy plants are wanted, 

 the shoots ought to be stopped at every third or fourth leaf up 

 to August, after which the plants should not be stopped but be 

 kept in a light position with plenty of air, so as to insure a 

 close firm growth. They may have larger pots in May and in 

 July, if those in which they are growing are filled with roots ; 

 pot firmly at each potting in order to produce a stiffer and 

 shorter-jointed growth. After the middle of September keep 

 the plants rather dry, and treat the same as young plants. 



Poinsettia pulcherrima needs no training, but it is not un- 

 usual to see long shoots bent round stakes, which in my 

 opinion is ugly. A plant of this Poinsettia looks well on a 

 trellis against a wall. Take care to plant it out in rich light 

 soil, with abundant drainage, and, by cutting the shoots of 

 various lengths, a wall of considerable height may be clothed 

 from top to bottom. It needs, however, to have light, air, 

 and dryness, and then the plant will produce its rich scarlet 

 bracts for the greater part of the winter, when it is one of the 

 finest objects that can be grown in the stove or warm green- 

 house. — G. Abbey. 



Liquid Manure fob Eoses. — My Poses this year are making 

 most extraordinary growth, which is, I believe, partly to be 



