CONOCLINIUM 



CONVALLAKIA 



365 



turn conysoides : Ivs. lance-elliptic, obtuse-toothed, 

 long-attenuate, short-stalked or somewhat deourrent : 

 heads numerous, handsome rose-color. Uruguay. B.H. 

 1870:90. -Handsome plant for bedding. Grows 1-2 ft. 

 high. Not hardy. 



CONOFHALLITS Kfinjak, Schott, is Amorphophal- 

 lus JRivieri, var Konjac, Engler. The great tuber is 

 much grown in Japan forthe makingof flour ( see George- 

 son, A.G. 13:79). Amorphophallus Merieri is figured 

 on p. 59 ; also in R.H. 1871, p. 573 ; and in B.JI. 6195 

 (as Protei nophallus Sevieri), Konjak is offered by im- 

 porters of Japanese plants. 



CONSERVATORY. Literally, a place in which things 

 are kept or preserved. Used to designate a glass house 

 in which plants are kept for display, rather than for 

 propagating or growing. 



Every well-ordered private establishment should have 

 a conservatory wherein to display to the best advantage 

 the plants which have been brought to their attractive 

 state in the greenhouses and hothouses thereon, and the 

 nearer it is located to the residence, all other things 

 being equal, the better. It would be best if it were a 

 part of it. Many architects, in preparing plans and ar- 

 ranging for the erection of conservatories, look more to 

 the architectural beauty of the structure rather than to 

 the well-being of the plants to be grown therein. One 

 of the worst faults hitherto has been inadequate ventila- 

 tion. A practical grower of plants should always be 

 consulted upon this essential point before definite ar- 

 rangements for building are made. In addition to a 

 generous opening in the roof, which should, in all cases, 

 be operated by one of the most approved lifters to be 

 had, the sides also should have door openings that 

 may be easily manipulated. The foundations may 

 be made of any substantial material, either of stone, 

 brick or concrete, and the wall should extend 2 ft. 6 in. 

 or 3 ft. high above the ground-line and up to where the 

 glass begins. Hollow brick walls are considered the 

 most satisfactory, if the house to which the conserva- 

 tory is to be attached be built of stone or brick, being 

 less amenable to the winter extremes in temperature, 

 when outside the thermometer may register zero, and in- 

 side 55° or 60°. The glass from the wall to the eaves 

 should be of good quality, and as transparent as possi- 

 ble, but that on the roof should be the translucent, 

 "frosted" or ground glass. Contrary to the general be- 

 lief, rose blooms of as fine quality have been produced 

 under ground glass in the climate of the United States 

 as have been grown under glass of the clearest trans- 

 parency, and that fact is here stated so that the glass 

 recommended may, without hesitation, be used ; besides, 

 It is better for nearly all plants grown for their foliage ; 



servatory, should be high enough to give a pleasing 

 general effect and yet such that each individual plant 

 may be examined at pleasure; and at the same time the 

 table should be low enough that the pots in which the 

 plants are growing may not be seen through the glass 

 from the outside. 



Some large plants may find a permanent home in the 

 conservatory, such as vines, to be trained on the rafters 

 and girders, if the size and style of the building will 

 allow of their training and proper care. Other large 

 plants, as palms of the various species and varieties, 

 can also be used to advantage. The great trouble with 

 mauy of the vines and other plants growing permanently 

 herein, is their proneness to insects in such structures, 

 and the methods generally in use for their extermina- 

 tion, put into operation in a conservatory attached to a. 

 residence, are out of the question in most cases. We re- 

 fer principally to the old style method of fumigation by 

 burning tobacco for the destruction of aphis. Experi- 

 ments are being made in the uses of different gases, 

 and by vaporizing insecticides, which may allow of this 

 part of the cultivation of flowers and plants under glass 

 to be made less disagreeable for the operators and for 

 the owners of conservatories in the future than it has 

 been in the past. For the destruction of the various 

 scale insects and mealy bug, sponging by hand is gener- 

 ally resorted to, but it is a slow and tedious process. 

 Syringing with a weak solution of tobacco water once or 

 twice a week will kill the scale, and aid in keeping down 

 mealy bug, especially it a strong pressure of water, 

 when syringing, can be brought into requisition. The 

 aphis, before referred to, or what is generally called 

 "green-fly," affects only what are termed soft-wooded 

 plants, and as they are only brought in when at their 

 best, should be entirely free from that pest before they 

 leave the greenhouse, in which they have been brought 

 to their most interesting and showy stage. Sometimes, 

 however, no matter how much care has been exercised, 

 some of these pests will be found on the plants, and as 

 they increase very rapidly, some means will have to be 

 resorted to for their extermination. Fumigation, by 

 burning tobacco stems, is out of the question, but to- 

 bacco dust, —the sweepings of a cigar factory, — when 

 burning is not at all disagreeable, leaving little more 

 smell than the burning of a good cigar. Liquid tobacco 

 extract is often used with good effect by evaporation, 

 using hot irons in the liquid. This has its objections, 

 being somewhat clumsy to operate. Evaporating pans 

 attached to the heating pipes, in which the liquid, some- 

 what diluted, is placed, are effective, and are not at all 

 disagreeable. Cleanliness and neatness are the great es- 

 sentials in a conservatory with interesting plants well 

 grown, to make it a source of pleasure to the owners, 

 and must at all times be kept in view. For further infor- 

 mation, see Glasshouses. Edwin Lonsdale. 



538. Spray of Lily-of-the-valley (X>^). 



and the beauty of flowering plants in bloom may be con- 

 served much longer than it is reasonable to expect they 

 would be under the more or less glaring unobstructed 

 snnlight. 



The interior arrangement of a conservatory Is a ques- 

 tion to be decided largely by the owner and gardener in 

 charge, and is largely a matter of taste, although 

 convenience in operating must never be lost sight 

 of. The former depends upon the individuality of 

 those most interested, and the latter must, in all cases, 

 be provided for, if the best success in plant-growing is 

 to be achieved. The table or stage along what might be 

 termed the front, or nearest to the outside of the con- 



CONVALLARIA (old Latin name, derived ultimately 

 from cont'aHis, a valley). Idlidcem. Lily-of-the-Val- 

 LEY. Fig. 538. One dainty herb in temperate Europe 

 and Asia, and native also in the high mountains from 

 Va. to S. Car. Lvs. radical, from an upright rootstock 

 or pip (Fig. 539): fls. white (sometimes pink-tinged), 

 small and tubular, nodding, in a short, radical raceme 

 (Fig. 540), the stamens 6 and style 1 (Fig. 541). Much 

 prized for its delicate, sweet-scented fls. The rhizome 

 and roots are sold in drug stores. They are poisonous 

 in large doses ; in small doses used as a heart tonic. 

 The plant is popularly supposed to be the one referred 

 to in the Sermon on the Mount, but this is not to be 



