CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 
ci.usrxrA. 
ANDSCAPES famous for gorgeous beauty have always abounded 
in India, and of these there are hut few in which the Canna (on this 
account called Indica) does not form an indispensable contributor to 
the loveliness of the prospect. This has become so universal a favorite, 
that it is cultivated in all civilized countries; and helps to give a 
semi-tropical appearance to many northern conservatories and gardens. 
As ornaments for the parlor they are also very fine, and may be kept in good 
condition the year round by proper care and attention. The genus belongs to 
the Arrowroot family, hut is not cultivated in this country for any nutritious 
properties, the beauty of the foliage and the flowers having engrossed the whole 
attention of cultivators. It might, however, be made a valuable food product. 
Of late years florists have produced a large number of new varieties, all of them pretty 
and desirable. To grow Cannas large, they should have plenty of room in a good, rich, 
deep soil, a loose, sandy loam being the very best for the purpose. Soapsuds or other 
liquid manure applied freely, say twice a week during warm weather, will be very accept¬ 
able to the plants and reward the care-taker with a greater wealth of leaf and flower. 
Those not wanted indoors for winter decoration can be lifted, with as much soil around 
the roots as possible, and allowed to dry in that condition; when the drying process is 
completed the tubers can be stowed away in any frost-free receptacle; they will bear a 
considerable degree of cold, hut contact with actual frost is ruinous. For winter decora¬ 
tion it is best to use one or two side shoots of the old tuber, as they are just about to 
sprout; they should be taken off in August and placed in a four-inch pot, changing them 
to larger ones as they need more room. These plants grow from one to twelve or fifteen 
feet in height, and vary in colors of foliage from the lightest shade of green to a very 
dark bronze. The flowers are also of a great variety of shades. 
CARJVilTIOJSr. 
_LL through the ages much attention must have been paid to this 
plant, or at least to the family to which it belongs, as we find that the 
Pink, the primitive source of countless varieties, was known to the 
Ancient Greeks as Dianthus, or Flower of Jove. And to this day the 
varieties have been incessantly multiplied, the plant being easy of culture 
and thriving in almost any fertile soil. The flowers are an acquisition to 
bouquet makers, not only on account of their beauty, hut for their clove-like or 
spicy odor. They can be propagated from the seeds, but such are more uncertain in 
quality of flower than those propagated from an old plant. Cuttings or slips can be 
taken freely from the old plants, and should he cut at the joint so as in breaking 
to leave a rounded end, or else he severed just below the joint. The slips should be 
set in a crock, near the edge, as close together as desired, the sand being well pressed to 
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