REQUIREMENTS OF STOVE PLANTS. 



25S 



Much depends upon the position in the houses assigned the different kinds of plants 

 that we hope to see in a flourishing state. Some few, crotons for instance, revel in 

 abundance of sunshine, and ought, therefore, to have as much of it as possible ; still more, 

 or the great majority, thrive best in light positions near the glass, but require to be 

 shaded from strong sunshine ; while eucharises, anthuriums, alocasias, and a limited 

 number of other choice genera, are most at home in positions where neither much heat, 

 direct from the hot- water pipes or sun, nor strong currents of air can reach them. 

 It is only by experience that the right positions for the plants more difficult to grow 

 can be found ; but once they are seen in a perfectly satisfactory condition, avoid shifting 

 them to other parts of the house, or to other structures, unless on a small or tentative 

 scale. Overcrowding the plants is also a great mistake. In a dense mass they may 

 appear, from a casual glance, to be effective, but will not bear critical inspection, and 

 are of little value for either grouping at flower-shows or for house and table decoration. 

 Not unfrequently plants are preserved too long. They become too large for their posi- 

 tions, lose the freshness that is inseparable from beauty, and spoil each other. Young, 

 healthy, free-growing plants are far more attractive, and a supply ought to be annually 

 raised to take the place of the older removed. 



The end or back walls of structures, pillars, and, to a certain extent, roof trellising 

 may be turned to account in the growth of trailing and climbing plants, many of which 

 are very beautiful, but these should not be encouraged to the extent of practically 

 spoiling a variety of plants in pots underneath. Very few stove plants are taken to con- 

 servatories for any great length of time, for the sufficient reason that they soon sustain 

 injury under the conditions that prevail in those places. This being so, every effort 

 should be made to make plant stoves as attractive as possible, and to keep their occu- 

 pants in such a clean and well-arranged state that they may be fully enjoyed by those 

 who inspect them. 



Temperature. 



In many, perhaps the majority of gardens, only one plant stove is to be found, 

 and in this case the only distinction that can be made between plants that come from 

 the higher tropical regions, and those from parts where the heat is less intense and the 

 atmosphere drier, is to arrange those requiring the most heat and moisture in the hottest 

 part of the house and the hardier kinds nearer the doorways. 



February is usually a busy month with plant growers, and it is then when the 



