CANNAS PAST AND PRESENT 
something of this vigour has been lost 
and these smaller rhizomes cannot be 
taken up and stored "just like Pota- 
toes," whatever was once the case. These 
roots are injured by undue heat or moist- 
ure, shrivelling away if too dry and rot- 
ting if too wet. To maintain the happy 
medium is easier in pots or buried in 
light soil, and this is the best way, choos- 
ing a place secure from frost, from dry 
heat, and from drip. Pot-grown plants 
are sent to rest by withholding water 
and keeping a lowered temperature, 
being otherwise left alone (but not under 
the greenhouse stage) until the young 
shoots start again. The spotted kinds 
are the most delicate at the root, and in 
general the yellows are less robust than 
the reds, and the purple-leaved than 
the green-leaved sorts. With a little 
care however it is as easy to store Cannas 
from November to March as it is tuber- 
ous Begonias. 
Nothing is easier than to 
Increase. *^ , ^ ^ 
secure a stock ot Cannas. 
The rhizomes may be divided at almost 
any time, and every sucker — or with 
scarce kinds every eye — removed with 
a heel will make a plant. The usual 
way is to divide old plants in early spring 
precisely as with Dahlias, each crown 
being started in a single pot of light 
soil, with bottom heat and a tempera- 
ture of 60° to 65°. There is little risk 
of loss in this way, but in ordering dried 
roots from a distance they sometimes 
come bruised or partly decayed; in this 
case the injured part should be cut away, 
the wound dusted with charcoal powder, 
and the sound part started into growth 
ithout delay — the only sure way of 
wi 
stopping the mischief. Though seeds 
ripen under glass, especially if the flow- 
ers are hand fertilised , they are not much 
used as a means of increase but may be 
sown as soon as ripe in strong bottom 
heat. Various means are adopted to 
facilitate the piercing of the hard outer 
husk, such as filing, or soaking the seed 
in water for a couple of days. Fresh 
seed sown in spring mostly germinates 
well, but it fails in proportion as it be- 
comes stale. The seeds grow somewhat 
slowly at first though the strongest will 
flower in the first year and all in their 
second season. 
The list of these is now perplex- 
Kinds. ing, there being more names than 
distinct kinds. The following are 
among the best in all colours, their flowers large 
and of good colour, while many of them have 
received official awards from the Royal Horti- 
cultural Society. 
Gladiolus-Flowered Cannas. — Alphonse 
Bouvier, bright crimson, good in winter; Ami 
Jules Chretien^ salmon-pink with sometimes 
an orange shade ; Antoine Barton^ yellow spotted 
crimson, with a goodconstitutionforthisclass; 
Aurora, bright chestnut-red; Beaute Poitevine, 
intense crimson-scarlet ; Black Beauty, small 
flowers but very fine dark leaves ; Black Prince, 
very dark crimson, the best in this shade ; Butter- 
cup, pure yellow, opening early and blooming 
late; Comte de Bouchaud, flowers of great sub- 
stanceand one of the best spotted kinds ; Duchess 
of Marlboro Improved, a good shade of pink ; 
Duchess of Tork, yellow spotted red ; Duke of 
York, rich carmine with white featherings ; 
Duke of Marlboro, a dark crimson shaded chest- 
nut ; Duke £r;w/, bright red with dark foliage; 
Elizabeth Hoss, yellow heavily spotted with 
red, one of the best of its class ; Jean Tissot, 
intense vermillion ; Koningen Charlotte, a seed- 
ling from Madame Crozy, flowers good in win- 
ter, red edged boldly with yellow ; Madame 
Crozy, old but still among the best, flowers 
very lasting, bright scarletnarrowly edged with 
yellow ; Mrs. F. Dreer, a good spotted variety 
