CR SSA NDRA — CR O TON. 



3»3 



or when growth commences, any in comparatively small pots may be given a liberal 

 shift. When Crinums are established in large pots or tubs, the roots need not 

 be disturbed, but the top soil may be removed annually, and fresh enriched loam 

 substituted. "What is termed a lumpy compost ought to be used for all but the smaller 

 plants. A suitable mixture consists of two parts fibrous loam, one part fibrous peat, 

 with charcoal and sand added freely. During the growing period strongly-rooted 

 plants must have copious supplies of water, varied with liquid manure. 



cross andba. — C. undulsefolia, East Indies, deserves inclusion in select lists of 

 stove plants. It is an evergreen flowering shrub, which attains a height of 1 to 3 feet, 

 and produces spikes of handsome, reddish- orange flowers with great freedom in the 

 autumn. Cuttings of shoots 2 to inches long, inserted in sand, and plunged in a 

 bottom heat of 75°, covering with a bell-glass, root freely at almost any time of the 

 year. From small pots, gradually shift the plants into larger sizes, employing equal 

 parts of loam and peat, mixing in sand freely. They thrive best in a moist, warm 

 atmosphere, and require copious supplies of water during all but the winter months. 



CROTON (CODLEUM). 



Croton is the generic term erroneously applied to Codiseum, but the old familiar name 

 is retained here owing to its established popularity among nurserymen and cultivators 

 generally. Because of the different structural character of the flowers, botanists regard the 

 two genera as distinct, and they form separate tribes of the Order Euphorbiacece, or exten- 

 sive spurgewort family. They are not grown for the beauty of the flowers, any more 

 than the box-tree is (which belongs to the same Order), but for the beauty of the leaves, 

 and it will be long before the familiar term Croton is superseded by Codiseum. 



Among plants with ornamental foliage Crotons stand pre-eminent. Whether viewed in 

 the plant stove or exhibition tent, or employed for house and table decoration, they 

 invariably attract admiration — always provided they are in a healthy, highly-coloured 

 condition. Their habit of growth, elegance in some cases and boldness of leafage in 

 others, together with diversity in variegation and richness of coloration, are all points in 

 their favour which no decorator or exhibitor can overlook. It is true they are frequently 

 to be met with in a deplorable state, but this is more the result of unsuitable means 

 for, or errors in, cultivation than of inherent weakness of the plants themselves. 



Crotons can be raised from seed, but this method of propagation is chiefly confined 

 to hybridisers or raisers of novelties. Plants are easily increased by cuttings, during 

 vol. 11. s s 



