COMMERCIAL FLORICUL TURE — PLANTS. 



201 



central pathway to a height, say, of 3-feet, or rather more, according to circumstances, 

 should be formed ; this keeps the bed of original soil from breaking away, and forms a 

 good foundation for either cucumber, melon, tomato, or pot plants generally. A single 

 bottom-heat pipe in the centre and just below the level of each bed would prove 

 serviceable, the top-heat being provided by a flow-pipe along the back, and a return 

 just inside the wall on each side of the pathway. Sometimes the return pipes are 

 arranged on the top of these walls, but if inside the top course of bricks they can be 

 enclosed by a frame at any time and extra heat for forcing provided. 



It is false economy to fix too few hot-water pipes. If, in order to obtain a desired 

 temperature, or to exclude frost, it becomes necessary to fire very hard and to make 

 what few pipes there are very hot, this is expensive as regards fuel, trying to the 

 apparatus, and most injurious to any plants subjected to the parched atmosphere that 

 prevails while the pipes are thus overheated. There ought always to be ample boiler 

 power and sufficient piping to obviate any necessity for keeping a fierce heat 

 anywhere. 



METHODS OF CULTUKE. 

 Nearly, if not quite all, the plants to be alluded to in this section have been treated 

 upon in the earlier pages of this work, and where fuller cultural details than will here 

 be given are desired, they may be obtained by referring to the index. As many 

 practical hints as possible will be conveyed in a brief form, market growers not caring to 

 wade through any lengthened descriptions or elaborate cultural details. Only the more 

 popular kinds of plants will be included, or those that pay well, either to sell in pots or 

 to afford flowers for cutting. 



ARALIA. 



Aralia (Fatsia) Sieboldi is the species largely grown for the markets, only a limited 

 number of the variegated form, A. S. variegata, being distributed, owing, partly, to its 

 being less easy of propagation. A thousand seeds of A. Sieboldi can be purchased for 

 Is. 6d. The seed should be new, and is usually obtainable in April. Old seed does 

 not germinate satisfactorily. Sow thinly in pans of light sandy soil, place in gentle heat, 

 cover with squares of glass, and keep the soil uniformly moist and shaded till the 

 plants appear. Eaise the seedlings well up to the light, and before they crowd each 

 other move them with the point of a label, and place singly in thumb pots, using light 



p p 2 



