Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/227

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.—For conservatory decoration during July there is nothing to compare with the Kalosanthes, except it be the zonal pelargonium. It is not of course desirable to fill a house with them, to the exclusion of everything else; for they are very stiff and formal in their habit, and the colours are too much alike. But two or three dozen large well-grown plants would be grand for lighting up a house full of ferns and other ornamental foliage plants. To state the case in a few words, they ought to be grown by scores where they can only be numbered by units at present.

The Kalosanthes, or Crassula, as it was formerly called, is by no means difficult to grow well. In the first place, the propagation is effected by taking off the tops of the shoots that have not flowered as soon as the flowers are past: for the wood is then ripe and firm, and not likely to decay, which is the case if the tops are taken off early in the spring, when the plant is in full growth and the shoots soft and sappy. Any light sandy soil will do for filling the pots in which the cuttings are to be inserted, and a layer of dry silver sand should be put on the surface, as it runs down into the hole made for the reception of the cutting, and forms a base for the cutting to rest upon.