524 
TJIE GREEN-HOUSE, HOT- HOUSE, AND STOVE. 
of the hot-house flue, at a safe distance from 
the fire. The intention being merely to keep 
the mould round the tuber perfectly dry, one 
pf the shelves on the back wall of the stove 
■will answer as well. Here it is secured 
from the water which is used in syringing the 
house, by inverting another pot over it. If 
the tubers be small, several may be kept 
in the same pot during winter, having the 
mould made firm round them, for the 
exclusion of air: the same mould that they 
were grown in should be used for this purpose, 
for fresh earth or sand, he justly observes, 
would stimulate them to move early. About 
the second week in March, they should be 
potted, putting one or two, according to their 
size, into each pot, the pots to be six inches 
over. The soil most congenial to them is 
fresh loam, mixed with an equal quantity of 
peat earth ; the loam to be not over-much 
enriched with dung, nor too heavy. The 
roots are to be parted if fit for separation, 
but by no means if they do not part freely. 
They should be planted about two inches deep, 
and plunged into a bottom heat equal to 
ninety-five degrees. Water is sparingly ap- 
plied at first, but increased after the plants 
have set a growing ; but this must never be 
applied in great quantities. If kept in a 
brisk heat, the shoots will extend for six or 
eight feet, or more, and will require to be 
trained to a trellis, or under a rafter, when 
they will flower in great abundance and 
perfection. 
" Ixora. — A genus of East Indian plants, 
of great beauty, the flowers of which are 
offered to Ixora, a Malabar idol, in conse- 
quence of their splendid appearance. Like 
the last, this is a genus, some of the species 
of which are met w r ith in most collections of 
the tropical plants, while it is very rare to see 
one of them in flower. On the continent this 
is different, and we find the Ixora coccinea, in 
particular, cultivated for the public markets. 
" The culture of the genus is, that they 
require a period of rest, which continues for 
four or five months, that is, from July till 
February, when they may be placed in the 
green-house amongst other plants, or in a 
pit where frost is completely excluded. In 
February they should be repotted, and then 
plunged into a mild moist heat, or set on the 
surface of a bed of tan, leaves, or dung, in a 
close pit, and kept in a temperature of from 
sixty to seventy degrees of heat. In this pit 
and by this mode of treatment they will show 
fine heads of flowers by the beginning of 
April, and may then be removed to the plant 
stove to flower, where they will continue in 
great splendour for a long period. 
" Gloxinia, Sinningia, and Gesnera, 
are three genera of plants, half bulbous and 
half herbaceous. They require, after flower- 
ing, to be kept moderately dry till their leaves 
and stalks die down, or become ripened, when 
they should be set upon a shelf in the stove, 
and kept dry till they show signs of vegetation, 
or until it may be desirable to bring them 
again into a state of active growth. At that 
period they should be shifted and supplied with 
water, moderately at first, but as they extend 
in growth it should be augmented. They 
should be brought to the front of the house to 
flower, as they are, particularly the two 
former genera, of dwarf habits, and would 
otherwise not be seen to advantage. Gloxinia 
and Gesnera may be increased by planting 
the footstalk with the leaf attached. The 
other is readily increased by cuttings, and also 
by the same means. 
"Quisqualis and Comuretum. — These are 
two splendid genera of climbing stove plants, 
requiring to be planted out in the borders of the 
house or in large pots. The principal feature in 
their culture different from other plants which 
inhabit the stove is, that while in a deciduous 
state they should have all the wood of the 
preceding season's growth cut into one, or at 
most to two eyes or buds. By this simple 
process they will flower abundantly: each 
shoot, for the most part, which springs, will be 
furnished with a spike of flowers at its ter- 
mination. 
"IpOjVLEA. — This is agenus of fine-flowering 
climbing plants, with large tuberous roots, and 
tender herbaceous stems. When these die 
down, the roots should be set upon the shelves, 
in a dry place, during winter ; in spring they 
may be taken down and repotted, and placed 
in a close pit for a week or ten days, when 
they will have begun to vegetate, at which 
time they should be brought into the stove 
and placed near a pillar, rafter, or similar 
support, to which the shoot should be trained . 
" Rhexia and Melastoma. — Two nume- 
rous and fine flowering families. During winter 
they require little water, but not to the extent 
to render them entirely torpid. These, toge- 
ther with many other half- herbaceous plants, 
should be placed at one end or corner of the 
stove, that some attention may be paid to them 
in this respect."— Pp. 301—303. 
The tropical fruit stove is not forgotten, nor, 
indeed, is anything omitted that is at all 
essential. The volume is got up fit for a 
drawing-room, with coloured embellishments, 
which give an excellent idea of the flowers 
they are to represent; and now that the re- 
duction of the price of glass has set everybody 
green-house and hot-house mad, the book will 
be found a timely adviser, and a first-rate 
present for a lady. Mr. MTntosh has not 
done without borrowing even in this volume, 
but he has made a good choice of his subjects, 
