CULTIVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE GENUS CLERODENDRUM. 17 
and procure the following kinds: — C. fallax, and fallax superbum, speciosissimum, 
squamatum , paniculatum , infortunatum, and Kcempferi ; to which, if they can he 
procured, may be added C. Hugelii, hastatum as a curiosity, fragrans and its 
double variety, with the white fortunatum, and most certainly the trailing species, 
C. splendens, of which there are two varieties, one with much darker flowers than the 
other, and more profuse in its habit of blooming. 
Supposing these kinds to have been procured, and that they are nice dwarf 
plants in small pots, on the first of March we will make provision to commence 
their growth ; and for this purpose a pit or frame must be prepared, in precisely the 
same manner that it would be prepared for cucumbers or melons, by getting it to a 
sweet atmospheric temperature of from sixty to seventy degrees, and with a good 
brisk bottom-heat. 
Over the bed, after the frame is put on, place cinder ashes two or three inches 
thick; and as soon as these are warm, all will be ready to commence operations. 
Those who cultivate by the more fashionable method, of hot water and tanks for 
bottom-heat, will do well to take a hint from the preceding ; for after all has been 
said, there is no atmosphere in which all soft-wooded stove plants, and many of the 
hard- wooded ones also, will grow so well as in that produced by the decomposition of 
fermenting materials ; and hence, if the tank is used, it will be advisable to take 
advantage of some well-prepared dung, to improve your atmosphere a little. In the 
opinion of some first-rate practitioners, and after trying all the various plans recom- 
mended, the perfection of heating, for vigorous and expeditious plant-growing, is a 
good system of hot water, combined with a well-managed dung lining. 
All being in readiness, provide a compost of the following materials : — three parts 
well-prepared fibrous turfy loam, one part turfy peat, one rotten cow-dung, with a 
handful of charcoal, broken to the size of horse beans, and sufficient white sand to 
keep the mixture free and open. Then take some eight-inch pots, and drain them 
with charcoal ; turn the plants out of their pots ; and if the roots are at all matted, 
open them out a little with a fine-pointed stick, and pot them into the prepared pots, 
using the compost as rough as possible, and be careful not to consolidate the soil 
too much ; give them a little warm water, place them in the pit or frame, and 
draw some of the ashes round the bottoms of the pots, to give a little additional 
bottom-heat; but take care that the bottom-heat does not become too strong. 
Keep the frame at a temperature of 70 degrees during the day, with plenty of air, 
and endeavour to keep a little air on also during the night, so that the heat does 
not fall below 60 degrees. The plants will require shading for a few days during 
bright sunshine, and indeed it will not be a bad plan to throw a thin shade over the 
plants every day for a few hours, as the leaves, being very large, are liable to bum 
under an unclouded sun. Cold draughts must also be guarded against, as they too 
are very liable to injure the tender foliage. In the management of the pit or frame 
shut up early in the afternoon, so as to command a good growing temperature of 
80 or 90 degrees, but give a little air at the time of leaving for the night, so that 
VOL. XIV. NO. CLVII. D 
