sionally bathed or syringed; in the sum¬ 
mer time plunged out of doors in some shady, 
damp spot, and in September, before bring¬ 
ing in again, should be repotted. This is 
about all the cultivation required. A few beau¬ 
tiful kinds are Acliaiitumcuneatum, Farlcyense, 
gracilHmmn and trapeziforme, Davallia tenui- 
folia, Lomaria gibba, Microlepia hirta cristata, 
Ifephrolepis davallioides furcans and Pteris 
Cretica albo Kneata, not for¬ 
getting a few varieties of Se- 
laginellas or Lycopodiums. 
THE INDIA-KTJBBER TREE. 
The Ficus elastica or India- 
rubber tree is well known, 
and might almost be called 
the indestructible plant. With, 
its bold and leathery leaves 
and free and noble carriage 
it bids defiance to dust and 
smoke alike, providing al¬ 
ways it has plenty to chink, 
with occasionally stimulants 
added to the soil in the pot. 
PALHS. 
Palms are the aristocracy 
among foliage plants, mostly 
very easy to manage, requir¬ 
ing a good deal of water and 
not necessarily very large 
pots; thriving well in a par¬ 
tially shaded window, to be frequentlyw\ashecl 
overhead, and can ahvays be placed outside 
under partial shade in summer time. A few- 
fine kinds are Areca hitescens, Carijota 2 crens, 
Cocos WeddeUiana, Latania borbonica and 
Oreodoxaregia. They may be used for various 
purposes of table decoration, and need not 
necessarily be taken out of doors if deshable 
for windows in the siunmer.— From 
an address before the iV. T. Sort. Soc. 
These conditions complied with 
easily grown, their beautiful 
ening up the appearance of any col e 
Tm,roi.TT -D-pni- we have introduced by Eui o 
exliibiting all 
pean florists new^ varieties 
shades of color and all shapes of leaves, some 
of which are more peculiar than pretty.' 
I shall, how'ever, only mention such kinds 
CROTON CHALLENGER. 
as have been tried and are distinct in color 
and character and well worth growdng. 
C. variegatum, one of the oldest but one of 
the best kinds growm, groimd color of the 
leaves, green, broadly inargiuod and striped 
with rich golden yellow^,'flue but compact 
grower and one of the hardiest. 
C. pictnm, another old variety, the ground 
OBOTOHS. 
In the beautiful colors and varied 
markings of their leaves, as w-ell as 
in the number of different shapes 
found in their numerous varieties, 
the Crotons are not excelled by any 
other class of plants. Most species 
are natives of the East Indies and 
South Sea Islands, therefore requiring 
for their perfect development a high, 
moist temperature, but if too succu¬ 
lent a growth has not been made, 
they make beautiful lawn objects 
during the hot summer months. I 
have also seen them planted out in 
connection wdth fancy-leaved Caladi- 
ums, forming attractive beds. 
For exhibition plants, the adorn¬ 
ment of the conservatory, and general 
decorative purposes. Crotons are best 
adapted and most suited. Xo col¬ 
lection of ornamental plants can be 
considered complete w'ithout a few 
specimens, e.special]y of the more 
easily grown and hardy kinds. 
TTie soil most suitable for Crotons is 
a compost of equal parts of flbi'ous loam and 
peat, with a good addition of sharp sand. 
Plenty of drainage must be given, as they 
require when growing an abundance of water 
at the roots. 
When making their growth they require a 
strong, moist heat, and, in oi-der to get well- 
colored leaves, they should be kept close to 
the glass where they can get plenty of light. 
0. Challenger. The leaves of this plant 
are large, broad, and beautifully striped and 
spotted with bright, golden ^.yellow. A fine 
variety. 
G. inlerruplum makes one of the handsom¬ 
est of plants, grows naturally pyramidal, the 
leaves long and narrow, some of them twist¬ 
ed others narrow in one place, wide in an¬ 
other. The under side of the leaf is a dark 
rc(1, the upper surface reddish 
gi’cen tinged with yellow. 
Makes a large specimen in 
a short time. 
C. maximum. A large, 
broad-leaved kind, color 
bright golden yellow, on an 
olive gi’een ground. 
G. undulatum. The first 
specimen I saw of this variety 
im|)ressed me .is being the 
most beautiful plant I had 
ever seen, l.'he leaves are 
unduhated at the edges, the 
groimd color is a deep green 
blotched with yellow and 
crimson, habit good, and an 
excellent show plant. 
C. Veilchti. Another of 
the large-leaved sorts, the 
ground color of which is a 
rich green, having a broad 
band of jmllow and red running through 
the center of the leaf. 
C. anguslisshmnn has long, narrow, pendu¬ 
lous leaves which are often twisted in form; 
the color is a bright, golden yellow, giving 
it a most handsome appearance. 
C. volutum Is very distinct; its leaves are 
curled, and elegantly mottled with yellow 
on green ground. M. Milton. 
EED SPIDER, 
(ricaras telarius.') 
I have repeatedly called attention 
in Till'. Ajieuican Gaudex to this 
persistent foe to window plants, and 
urged youi- readers to deny the pest 
a footing, writes AVm. Falconer. In 
your rciiort of the meeting of The. 
American Florists at Cincinnati, page 
21 S, idr. C. L. Allen says that the red 
.spider “never ate a plant in its life. 
jMicroscopie insects come to live upon 
the plants and the red spider to live 
upon them. It is a friend, not a foe." 
Now friend Allen will have his little 
joke, but whether this was a Joke or 
no I cannot say. But 1 do know 
and will assert that the red spider 
{Ararus udarivs) lives upon the juices 
of plants, and is one of the worst, if 
not the most terrible insect enemy 
greenhouse gardeners have to 
contend with. Look for yourselves. 
CROTON VOLUTUM. 
color Of the leaf of wlilcli is a line crimson 
spotted with yellow and gremi ’ 
C. o.urmmmaculalum\H one'of the most 
distinct of the pictum 
“.'j'™''-TO 
spotted and marked with bright yellovv. 
OUR WINDOW BOX, 
Ferns should never be allowed to 
bcci>nicitry;thcy dobettcriupartially 
shaded than in full suuny windows. 
Barely has there lunm a summer when so 
many Mowers have been sold in the Aletrop- 
olls; retail dealers have not heen Idle, which 
is generally the rule at this season; and 
wholesale lloi'lsts have been kept fairly busy 
supplying the watering-places. 'I’he late 
Humnior has made flowers unusually flue. 
