56 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDEXIXG. 



HOT-HOUSE OE STOYE PLANTS. 



By William Hugh Gower. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT will be quite superfluous to enter into details 

 here respecting the construction and fitting of 

 the structure to accommodate the plants to be 

 treated upon under this heading, as these matters 

 will be fully discussed in the articles upon Glass 

 Structures and Appliances now appearing in this 

 work. As we before remarked, however, when re- 

 ferring to green-house plants, the modern span-roof 

 house is the best adapted for the cultivation of good 

 and handsome specimens, although many tropical 

 plants will thrive in a " lean-to " house which would 

 utterly ruin many of the hard- wooded kinds from 

 cooler regions. 



The hot-water system of heating plant-stoves 

 is now all but generally adopted, and most plants 

 seem to flourish under the treatment, although since 

 its adoption, and the consequent abolition of the old 

 smoke-flue, sundry old-fashioned plants from hot 

 ■dry regions seem to have slipped out of cultivation, 

 as if they missed something necessary to their 

 ■existence which is not supplied under the present 

 ■conditions. A hot-house or stove for the accommo- 

 dation of a general collection of tropical plants 

 ■should be kept as near as possible at a temperatui'e 

 >of from 66° to 80° during the summer months, and 

 ■from 60° to 70° in winter ; there should be a 

 division, or a separate house, in which the tempera- 

 ture would range perhaps 10° lower ; this is intended 

 ior the accommodation of plants from considerable 

 ■elevations, and will also serve as a resting-place for 

 ■many of the tropical species when growth is past 

 and they are required to lie dormant for a time. 

 ■ Stove plants revel in a high temperature and a 

 •moist atmosphere, but they require in addition a free 

 circulation of air, and therefore the best manner of 

 'ventilation is by admitting the cold air just below 

 the level of the hot- water pipes, in order that it may 

 be warmed before coming in contact with the plants. 

 A certain amount of shading is also necessary during 

 the summer months, for although many of the plants 

 enjoy full exposure to the sun's rays in the open, 

 they cannot withstand them under glass with im- 

 punity ; but such matters will be treated in other 

 parts of this work. 



Tanks for water should be constructed inside the 

 house, and so placed that the w^ater may be kept 

 nearly of the same temperature as the atmosx^here, 

 for nothing is more injurious than cold water falling 

 upon the young roots, or tender shoots, of tropical 

 plants. 



Tropical plants are much infested with insect 

 pests, and perhaps the most formidable is the mealy- 



bug. This is a small insect powdered white all o\ or. 

 The female is wingless and devotes the whole of her 

 life to the destruction of plants and the increase of 

 her species, both of which she efi:'ects with surprising 

 rapidity. There are numerous specifics recommended 

 for their destruction, all of w^hich are no doubt good, 

 but some require to be used with great caution. 

 The brown- scale is another pest which often keeps 

 company on the same plant with the mealy-bug, 

 and is exterminated by washing, or in the same 

 manner as its friend and acquaintance. Green-fly, 

 yellow-fly, and thrips can be exterminated by fumi- 

 gation, but if any one i)lant is continually infested 

 with thi-ips, it may be taken for granted the tem- 

 perature is too high, and it should be removed to a 

 cooler place. The red-spider, though very minute, is 

 a dreadful pest, and its appearance is due alone to 

 aridity in the atmosphere,' for if the air is well 

 charged with moisture no red-spider will put in 

 an appearance ; sulphur mixed with water, and the 

 plants affected syringed with it a few times, will 

 soon eradicate it, but the discoloured leaves will still 

 remain (until they die) as a monument of their 

 visit, and the cultivator's want of care. The very 

 best way to keep plants from falling a prey to these 

 pests is to keep their surroundings sweet and clean, 

 the atmosphere well charged with moisture, and the 

 temperatm-e as regular as possible ; this will conduce 

 to vigorous health, and with this the chances of 

 these attacks of pests and disease are reduced to the 

 minimum. 



Acalypha. — Tliis is a very large genus, belong- 

 ing to the Spui'gewort family [Eiqjhurbiacca). Very 

 few species have any beauty to recommend them to 

 the notice of the cultivator. Those here enumerated 

 are remarkable for their handsome foliage. They 

 should be potted in peat, loam, and sand. 



A. macrophylla. — The colours of the large leaves 

 in this plant are very diversified, shades of coppery- 

 green, red, and yellow being curiously blended. It 

 is a very showy species. South Sea Islands. 



A. marginata. — Scarcely so robust as the preced- 

 ing ; the ovate-acuminate leaves are hirsute, rosy- 

 carmine and green ; the cenlre bronzy-green. South 

 Sea Islands. 



A. ohovata. — Leaves obovate, when young light 

 green with yellowish- white border, changing with 

 age to intense deep green, the edges rosy-pink and 

 the centre bronzy-green. South Sea Islands. 



A. JViUcesiana. — This plant was originally named 

 A. tricolor. It attains a height of ten or twelve feet, 

 but is more handsome when smaller ; its leaves are 

 large, and ovate-acuminate in shape ; ground-colour 

 bronzy-green, mottled with irregular-shaped patches 

 of red and crimson. Xew Caledonia. 



