Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/157

Rh comprising the comparatively small rigid growers, and represented by A. armata, and the other the more robust species, slender in growth and having feathery foliage, and represented by A. dealbata. Those of the first section may be propagated by means of cuttings, and can be kept in proper shape by pruning. The others are most readily propagated by seed, and must not be pruned so severely, especially after they have attained a large size. They all thrive in a mixture of peat, loam, and leaf-mould, or they may be grown in loam and leaf-mould alone.

The points of half-ripened shoots make the best cuttings, and therefore the summer season will be found the most suitable for increasing the stock of the small growing kinds. The spring is the proper time for sowing the seed, which should be soaked in warm water some time previously. Whether raised from cuttings or seeds, the young plants will require stopping once or twice after they are established in the small pots in which they are put when potted off singly, to induce them to produce an abundance of side shoots, and thus form a good foundation for bushy specimens. Acacias of all kinds require liberal supplies of water during the spring and summer, and at no season of the year must they suffer from an insufficiency of moisture at the roots. Should any of the specimens become infested with white scale, the best course will be to destroy them and commence with young plants from a clean stock, for it is impossible to thoroughly eradicate the pest when it has once become established. The time to prune is just previous to their commencing to make new growth. All the species may be grown in pots or be planted out in the conservatory border. Some of the robust growers, especially A. Riceana and A. dealbata, are very valuable for training over pillars and girders in large conservatories.

.A. fragans is a good plant. It has a naturally bushy habit, and the only special attention required is to tie out the shoots with the aid of neat stakes. The flowers are produced at the tips of last year's shoots. Peat and silver sand form the proper compost; and in shifting the plants into large pots it is of the highest importance to press the soil very firm. Careful watering is very essential at all seasons.

.These require careful attention at all times,