JANUARY, 1909 
*. 
upright: position, and the whole planted in 
sand in 2: or 24-inch pots, and then 
plunged in a cutting bench. To make the 
cuttings root, a steady heat and humid 
atmosphere must be maintained. 
The rubber-plant is a gross feeder, so there 
is no danger of getting the soil too rich. 
Use an ordinary potting soil, and when the 
pot has become filled with roots, manure 
water or other liquid fertilizer may be given 
once or twice a week. 
During the summer, the rubber-plant will 
be much benefited by being put out of doors; 
but if the plant has made a considerable 
growth in the house, do not put it where it will 
get the full sunshine, for the leaves will be 
burned: Place it where it will get the. early 
morning and late afternoon sun, but be 
shaded during the middle of the day. 
Within recent years, the fiddle-leaved 
rubber-tree (Ficus pandurata) has come into 
general cultivation and, so far as I can 
learn, is as hardy as the commoner one 
already described. It differs in the shape 
of its leaves, which are much broader and 
wedge shaped, and have creamy white veins. 
The only member of the pine family which 
can safely be recommended for house culti- 
vation is the Norfolk Island pine (Araucarta 
excelsa), one of the most popular house plants 
and by long odds the best formal plant for 
house decoration. The foliage is a bright 
grass-green and the branches are produced 
in regular whorls of five, at short, but regular 
intervals, making a very pretty, symmetrical 
plant. The Norfolk Island pine will stand 
a great deal of neglect so long as it is kept in 
a cool place and the soil about its roots is 
moist. 
One of the most easily grown foliage plants 
is the canna. Of course, it will flower, but 
when grown in the window garden it is 
primarily a foliage plant. The best one is 
Black Beauty, which outdoors will grow 
five to six feet high, but in pot culture reaches 
only two or three feet. The leaves are of a 
rich, glistening, bronzy-purple, shaded black, 
and the margins are crimped or wavy. 
Roots can be bought from the seedsmen, 
but an easier way is to dig up those which 
have flowered in the garden during the 
summer, dry them off, and start them grow- 
ing in 6- or 7-inch pots, transplanting to 
larger pots as necessary. The plant will 
make a good show all winter and may be 
put outdoors in the flower-bed again in the 
summer. 
The most popular variegated plant for 
house culture is the variegated screw pine 
(Pandanus Veitchii). The leaves grow two 
to three feet long, one and one-half to two 
inches broad, light shiny green with broad, 
pure white stripes, and arch gracefully. Both 
the edges and the midrib of the leaf are thick 
and set with spines. When small, it is very 
useful as a centre-piece, small ferns and 
selaginellas being used about the base. Get 
plants which have been hardened off; soft, 
sappy specimens are apt to rot. Give rich 
but well-drained soil and plenty of water, 
but do not over-water. As the roots are 
rather large and fleshy, the soil must not be 
packed around them too tightly or growth will 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
be retarded. New plants can easily be made 
by removing the suckers that are very freely 
produced and treating them as cuttings. 
Another variegated pandanus (P. Sander?) 
has yellow stripes, and during the winter the 
new growths in the centre of the plant are 
deep golden yellow. 
Not as pretty, but just as hardy, is the com- 
mon screw pine (Pandanus utilis), a stronger 
grower than Veitchiu; I have seen specimens 
twenty feet high growing in greenhouses. 
269 
soi These-greatly*resemble stilts. All the 
screw. pines are more or less subject'to ‘‘spot,”’ 
which is caused by small insects burrowing 
under: the ‘epidermis-.of the leaf. There 
seems to be no remedy for this, so if a plant 
becomes badly infested, throw it away. If 
there are only one or two spots, cut off the 
infected leaves and burn them; keep the 
plant dry — do not syringe the leaves — and 
water the soil sparingly. Over-watering 
seems to induce an attack of this insect. 
Screw pines are among the most easily grown house plants, and will attain great size 
The leaves are produced in a spiral, from 
which it gets its name ‘“‘screw’’ pine, are 
light green in color, and the edges and midrib 
are set with spines as in Veitchii. If you 
cannot get Veitchil, buy this one — and it 
does not cost as much, either, being easy to 
propagate as it may be grown from seed 
which germinates readily. 
One curious thing about the screw pines is 
the stilted effect they give, particularly utilis. 
When the plant begins to get any size it 
produces from the stems near the ground large 
thick roots which immediately penetrate the 
It seems to be the delight of a great many 
people to grow an orange or a lemon tree. 
They save the seeds from fruit used in the 
house, and with good care have a nice plant 
in a year or two. If it is grown long enough 
it will produce some fruit, usually sour. I 
have been asked a great many times how 
such plants can be made to bear sweet oranges 
or good lemons. The plants should have 
been budded, when about the size of a lead- 
pencil, with a good variety. This is a very 
bothersome and delicate operation, and 
also involves the necessity of sending to 
