SUBTROPICAL PLANTS FOR THE FLOWER GARDEN. 201 



subject, but not nearly so much grown as it ought to be. 

 The French make a grand use of it, both indoors in 

 winter, and in the conservatory and out-of-doors in sum- 

 mer. About Paris it is of course as tender as with us, and 

 requires the same amount of attention, which, after all, is 

 very little. They grow it by the thousand for the decora- 

 tion of rooms, and in the great nursery of the city of Paris 

 at Passy there are 10,000 plants of it, chiefly used for the 

 embellishment of the Hotel de Ville. I need hardly say 

 that we are much worse off for graceful things for indoor 

 decoration than the French, and should in consequence 

 grow this plant abundantly, according to our space. "When 

 grown to a medium size its leaves begin to arch over, and 

 when in that condition nothing makes a more graceful and 

 distinct ornament for room or hall. It may be grown to 

 presentable perfection in an eight-inch pot, or to a great 

 mass of bold long leaves in a tub a yard in diameter. 

 Generally with us it will be found to enjoy greenhouse 

 temperature, though in genial places in the south and west 

 of Ireland and England it does very well in the open air. 

 Its best use is for the decoration of the garden in summer, 

 a few specimens well grown and plunged in the grass or the 

 centre of a bed giving a most distinct aspect to the scene. 

 The larger such plants are, the better, of course, will be the 

 effect. The small ones will prove equally useful and effective 

 in vases, to which they will add a grace that vases rarely now 

 possess. It is pre-eininently useful from its being alike 

 good for the house, conservatory, and even the living rooms 

 in winter. Wherever indoor decoration on a large scale is 

 practised it is indispensable, and it should be remarked that, 

 unless for vase decoration it requires to be grown into goodly 

 specimens before affording much effect out of doors ; but 

 when grown large in tubs, it is equally grand for the large 

 conservatory and for important positions in the flower garden. 

 Bjcinus communis (the Castor-oil Plant). — When well 

 grown in the open air, there is not in the whole range of 

 cultivated plants a more imposing subject than this. It 

 may have been seen nearly twelve feet high in the London 

 parks of late years, and with leaves nearly a yard wide. It 



