THE CULTIVATION OF CODLEUMS (CROTONS) AND DRAC.ENAS. 377 
parting- from its parent without flagging. Tiie stem should be 
cleanly cut just below the pot, and the new plant be stood in an 
empty pot in a moist close house for the first few days, when it 
will soon be found to be perfectly established. 
If seeds have been obtained by cross-fertilisation, which is 
done to produce new varieties, they should be sown as soon as 
they are ripe in pots filled with porous sandy soil, and kept 
thoroughly moist. The pots should be placed in a warm house 
on a stage, not in a close case Avhich renders the seedlings liable 
to damp off as they come up. As soon as they can be handled 
the seedlings should be pricked off in pots with a similar soil 
till ready to be potted singly in small pots and grown on among 
the general collection. 
Deacenas. 
Considering their utility as regards habit, colour, and 
durability, the Dracaena family stands out most prominently 
among fine foliage plants. They are, with very few exceptions, 
of comparatively easy cultivation, and being quick in growth are 
therefore the more valuable either for exhibition, table decoration, 
or for the embellishment of apartments. 
The numerous species and varieties are principally cultivated 
in warm houses, but a few are essentially greenhouse plants. 
The coloured-leaved section may be divided into broad, medium, 
and narrow-leaved varieties. Of these the broad-leaved ones 
generally make the finest specimens, and are therefore best 
adapted for exhibition. The medium-leaved varieties adapt 
themselves to all purposes, while the narrow-leaved are the most 
in demand for table decoration. The section of which D. 
Goldicana is the type form very handsome variegated plants, 
while the green varieties, such as Danelliana, are most useful 
decorative subjects from being so very hardy. The varieties of 
D. indivisa make splendid specimens planted out in the garden 
during the summer, or if grown in pots they do well in a cool 
position. Such species as D. Draco, D. umhraculifera and 
others are mostly grown in a stove and may be considered as 
plants for a collection, their utility for decorative purposes being 
valueless. 
All those which require stove treatment during their growth 
should be kept in a uniform temperature, varying, however, 
D 
