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Show BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBH THE ASPIDISTRA OR "PARLOR PALM" PLANT -1 Vurlety of Decorative House PI tint Which nesponclo Goner '.'; uusly to Good Care. Tho HSlldlstra, or pnrlor palm, derives de-rives Its name from' anpldlKcon, a lit jllg round hhlcld, probably fioni the shape br Its flower, which, though somewhat Insignificant, Is peculiar from Its being borne upon tho surface sur-face of tho soil. There are two forms, green and variegated. The nspldlslra Is pcrhnps the most valuable ot all plants for room embellishment, as well J as for effect In tho greenhouse, whilst, being overgreen, It Is especially valuable valu-able for decorative purposes nil tho year round: In fact. Its stately and bold nppenrunce causes It to rank nmnug the best of all plants for Indoors, In-doors, In draughts and badly lighted rooms, nnd with reasonable care It succeeds with hut little attention. -It will also he found,' too, more profitable profit-able than many expensive plants purchased pur-chased from tlmo to tltno to place upon the Inhlo or In the window, these usually having to ho replaced quickly, quick-ly, so llttlo aro they' adopted to n prolonged pro-longed sojourn lu an uncertain tem-p)rutiire tem-p)rutiire with unnatural surroundings. Ono of the advantages of the aspidistra aspidis-tra Is that gas affects It but llttlo In comparison with other plants. Ono cannot help but notice In many cases 11 neglect as regards cultivation, tho plnnts, as It were, being loft to lake c'h of themselves, A good plant rto'uld bo purchased from u nurseryman, nursery-man, and If this Is given due atten- thfs operation being carried out by tho aid of a sharp knife, cutting through tho rhlionie, or footstock, carefully and cleanly, sopnratlng the roots wllh as llttlo damage as possible. possi-ble. T6 make each division shapely If may he necessary to dotach several sev-eral slnglo leaves, with rootlets, theso being laid on one side for later attention. atten-tion. Tho spare space In the pot should be filled with the compoot above described, caro being taken that ample am-ple drainage,. Is afforded, with a few pieces of crocks (broken flower-pots). Firm polling Is deslrnblo, this being nttnlncd by giving tho baso of the pots several decided taps upon tho bench In ordor to settlo the contents firmly and the soil about the roots. Tho single leaves roqnlro potting In the samo way In live-Inch pots, arranging arran-ging the tall leaves In ono pot, tho smnll In another. This Is an excellent excel-lent plan to obtain plants for different differ-ent positions, tho tuller giving a better bet-ter appcaranco on a hall table or In tho conservatory, the smaller being more fitted for the side table or In a fancy stand or similar receptacle. This Is somewhat drastic treatment, but If tho plants aro carefully slaked with a light stick or bamboo cano and tied up with rnflla for a week or' two thoy will speedily recover If kept from bright sunlight, tho tying up of the leaves being necessary to prevent FIq. 1 Too Crowded. Fig. 2 Removal from Pot Preparatory to Dividing the Root. - tlon there Is no reason why, after several sev-eral years, the grower may not be ablo to iflll tho rooms or greenhouse with n conslderabdo number of handsome hand-some specimens owing to tho easiness with which it Is propagated, as shown In tho accompanying illustrations. Propagation by division Is best carried car-ried out early, in March, and a supply sup-ply of Boll composed of two parts loam, b The Repotted Divided Roots. ono part leaf mold und ono part sand should bo mndo up for tho potting, as this Is found to he the compost In which the aspidistra best succeeds, After, about two years' growth tho leaves will havo Increased to such un extent that thoy aro apt to crowd ono another, ns In Pig. 1, and ns small, misshapen specimens result, repotting nnd division Is then necosfiry. To commence operations placo the flngero Of tho left hand between the stems ot the leaves on tho surface of the soil, I turning the plant completely upslda down; then with n gentle tap of the edge of tho pot, upon tho greenhouse staging or similar firm substance the pot may he easily removed, us In Fig. 3. Tho mass of sol) nnd root can then be divided Into three or as many parls ns may bo decided upon (soo Fig. 3), their weight levering tho roots out ot position. The 'final proceeding Is to glvo the contents of the pots several copious waterings, In ordor to wash tho soil well' round tho roots, but be sure tho water gets away. Sometimes It will be found that old plants mako no progress. This Is usually due to the fact that fresh soil entirely Is required, the old having becomo sour from ovor-watoring or other causes. Imtnerso the whole ot tho pot and contents In a pall ot water for oue hour, remove tha pot, washing awny the old soil altogether, then repot re-pot with new pot and soil. As to watering, the aspidistra requires to bo freely watered In summer and sparingly spar-ingly In winter. It Is preferred by some, Instead ot giving several waterings, water-ings, to stand tho plant in n pall of water for some llttlo tlmo, allowing tho pot to bo wholly covere'd, thus affording af-fording a lasting drink, and this method meth-od Is all vory well when the watering of a plant Is understood, It Is a common com-mon practice to placo the pots In 'fancy vases or Jardlnloros; this Is dotrlmontal to any plant, ns It hinders tha alf getting to tho pot, which Is porous. If, however, this course Is adopted the outer vessel should be considerably con-siderably larger than thnt containing the plant ltsolf, to allow a certain amount of air 1o circulate between tho two; also It should not bo forgotteri that water must not accuraulato at the bottom of tho vase, rig this rapidly becomes be-comes stagnant and sour, and is very Injurious to' the plant |