DECORATIVE PLANTS 



like teeth terminating in a thorn, making it a 

 most unpleasant plant to handle, unless your 

 hands ai'e well protected with leather gloves. 

 To grow it well, give it a spongy soil, good 

 drainage, plenty of light, and a rather high 

 temperature. Shower it frequently. If you 

 find the red spider on it, wash it with a weak 

 solution of fir-tree oil, taking care to start at 

 the base of the leaf and draw your cloth toward 

 its tip. If this is done, you will have no trouble 

 with its needle-like thorns, but begin at the 

 top and work downward and you will find it 

 as prickly as any Cactus, and far more aggres- 

 sive, as its spines are longer than those of any 

 Cacti usually found in the window-garden. 



For those who like something very striking 

 and out of the common, there are few plants 

 that will give more pleasure than Agave Queen 

 Victoria. This plant is a member of the Cen- 

 tury-plant family. It has thick, succulent 

 leaves of pale green, broadly banded with 

 creamy white or clear yellow. These are ter- 

 minated with a thorny point quite like that of 

 some varieties of the native Thorn Apple. It 

 is able to stand all kinds of neglect and hard 

 usage, and flourishes under most unfavorable 

 conditions. But it must never be subjected 



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