210 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
PROPAGATION AND CULTURE OF CHOICE 
DRACAENAS, 
A paper read before the Hartford Florists’ Club, by Alois 
Frey, Gardener City Parks, Hartford, Conn 
The choice or fancy Dracaenas, as they may be 
termed, of which there is a very large collection, orig- 
inated in China and Japan, and are plants of great 
value for decoration and all sorts of ornamentation. 
The leaves, be they broad or narrow, spreading or re- 
curved, in all cases preserve a distinctly graceful and 
stately habit. Some are very gaily colored, the young 
growth being especially bright, while others are of a 
rich green and almost black. 
These plants are propagated from top cuttings, 
from the stem and roots and by seeds, seeds being only 
used to obtain novelties. 
Head or top cuttings are successfully rooted dur- 
ing January, February and March in a hothouse in a 
frame under glass at a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees 
of bottom heat. 
The cuttings can be potted in very small pots, or 
are put in the propagating bed without pots in a mix- 
ture of one part sand and one part peat. It is essen- 
tial to keep them at a regular bottom heat and have 
the frame as close as possible until they are rooted. 
As soon as they show roots the young plants must be 
potted, or if they were rooted in thumb-pots, a re- 
potting in a larger size will be necessary. Again they 
have to go in a frame with bottom heat until they are 
perfectly established in the new soil, after which they 
can gradually be hardened off by giving a little air 
every day, gradually more and more until the glass 
can be left off altogether. Successive pottings will 
help them to make new roots and keep them vigorous 
The Dracaenas can also be propagated from the 
stems and roots. The stems may be left their entire 
length or cut in pieces about six inches long and laid 
in a similar frame as the first mentioned cuttings. The 
same soil is used. About twice a day they have to be 
syringed, which will help to swell the eyes along the 
stem. As the young plants produced from these eyes 
grow and send out roots, they are severed from the 
stem and potted in small pots, and receive from now 
on the same treatment as the top cuttings. 
The trunks and roots are treated in a like manner 
as the stems and produce as good a quality of plants 
as the former. 
When plants grow too large, instead of making 
cuttings of the tops they can be mossed up. To do 
this, the leaves are tom off on the place where the 
roots are desired to form and an incision is made. A 
composition of one part of peat, one part of moss and 
one part of sand is tied around the stem where the in- 
cision was made; frequent syringing is necessary. 
When the roots appear, one cuts off the plant and 
pots and treats it in the same way as the other young 
plants. This operation is especially recommended 
where no frame wdth bottom heat is at hand. 
These Dracaenas after they leave their birthplace 
must be grown on in a temperature of 65 to 70 de- 
grees. It is preferable to have them in pots and shift 
them successively in larger pots as they need it, then 
to plant them out on the bench and pot them when 
they are full grown. In this way they are checked by 
the disturbance of the roots and often lose the bottom 
leaves, which renders them unsightly. 
The worst enemy of the Dracaenas is the Trips., 
The only remedy to fight it is to smoke from time to 
time and keep the atmosphere very close by syringing 
the plants two or three times a day. In the summer 
a little air must be given daily, and from 10 to 3 o’clock 
they ought to be shaded ; the less shade they get, the 
better will the color of the foliage be. 
Following are a few names of some of the prettiest 
varieties ; 
Dracaena amabilis, leaves prettily variegated with 
green, white and pale violet, turning to rose. 
Dr. Lindeni, with broad leaves beautifully varie- 
gated, showing wide strips of golden or creamy yellow. 
Dr. imperialis, leaves green changing to rose, mar- 
gin creamy white. 
Dr. Sanderiana, light silvery green, beautifully bor- 
dered with creamy white. 
Dr. terminalis, rich crimson foliage marked with 
pink and white. 
Dr. Goldiana, a distinct form with peculiar zebra- 
striped leaves and very compact habit. 
Dr. Godseidana, is entirely different from all 
others. The leaves are irregularly spotted with 
creamy white and remind a good deal of an ancuba. 
DRAINAGE VALVE FOR PARK LAKES. 
R. N. Clark, Engineer Public Works, Hartford, Conn., con- 
tributes the following to the Bulletin of the New England 
Association of Park Superintendents 
The accompanying illustrations show a combined 
valve or gate-chamber and storm water overflow which 
was designed by the writer to meet peculiar condi- 
tions confronting us, first, in taking care of the surplus 
water from our proposed lake in Goodwin Park; 
second, in providing the means for draining the lake 
when necessary, and third, for maintaining at different 
seasons of the year different elevations of the water 
surface. 
The structure itself consists of a brick vault, or 
chamber, divided into two nearly equal parts by a weir. 
One of these chambers (the one on the left in the illus- 
tration) is the receiving well, and in it the water 
stands on a level with that in the lake, except when 
the latter is being drained. This part has double 
brick wall of twelve inches thickness, separated by a 
two-inch layer of Portland cement mortar, composed 
