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CULTIVATION AND ANALYSIS OF PLANTS. 
buds and flowers making its splendors conspicuous at a very considerable distance. The 
large, trifid leaves and general robust habit of the plant also add their attractions. As a 
window plant it is a fine ornament, but requires more root-room than can ordinarily be 
allowed it. A rich, black or yellow loam well stirred up is the best soil for this plant, 
though it will grow in almost any kind of earth. In the summer months the growing 
plants must have a fair supply of water; and be taken up before or soon after the first 
slight frost. If allowed to endure the early frost, they should be previously protected by 
four or five inches of extra soil around the roots. During the winter they may be kept 
in any dry cellar, protected from frost, but not wholly deprived of moisture; a covering 
of moss or damp sand around the dormant roots will meet this requirement. Early in 
summer, say in May, they may be set out for the season, care being taken to protect them 
in the colder latitudes from the later frosts, when they will bloom from June to October. 
They can be propagated from cuttings of small shoots or raised from the seed; but those 
who want large plants soon will find it most convenient to buy them already in an 
advanced condition from the florists. Good, large, specimen plants of the E. crista-galli, 
which is the favorite species, are commonly sold at a very moderate price. 
g FLITTONTIA. 
VAR 
aS ITTONIA is a very ornamental plant of the Bottle-brush tribe, a 
subdivision of the Myrtle family, and is largely utilized for hanging- 
y a baskets, ferneries and Wardian cases, where the atmosphere is moist 
and still. It can, however, be grown as a single specimen, in a sepa- 
rate pot or among other plants, indoors where any extra shade is pro- 
y vided; but the Wardian case or glass shade seems to be its especial delight. 
The fine white or purplish-red streaks of the leaves make them an attractive 
Y ‘ornamental plant. They require great care in cultivation, and should never be 
subjected to drafts, hot or cold. A very good soil for them is about equal parts of 
chopped sphagnum, or bog-moss, peat-earth, potsherds and charcoal, well mixed. 
Natives of the bogs or quagmires of the tropics, they require a large amount of 
heat, as well as moisture, all the year round; they cannot be grown where the atmosphere 
falls below sixty. In favorable circumstances the Fittonia will spread itself freely, but it 
can easily be controlled by the usual method of pinching or cutting out when it encroaches 
where it is not wanted. This plant mixed with some of the Lycopodiums, especially the 
Selaginellas, constitute very pretty parlor ornaments under glass shades, and will require 
very little water if the glass is left on, as what they evaporate, being held within the case, 
condenses and is again absorbed. During the hot weather, however, they should receive 
an occasional sprinkling or syringing with tepid soft water. In cold weather, when there 
is risk of the temperature going below sixty degrees, they should be wrapped in paper, 
flannel, a shawl, or whatever is most convenient. Their worth and beauty will compen- 
sate for the extra care they require; but careless amateurs cannot well succeed with these 
delicate exotics. There are three species, all desirable, in general cultivation. 
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