CANNA

(derivation uncertain; according to some, from can a, the Celtic name for cane, or reed). Indian Shot. O RD. Sci tamineæ. A large genus of stove herbaceous perennials, very extensively employed in sub-tropical and other methods of summer gardening. Flowers spathaceous; anther attached to the edge of the petal-like filament. Leaves very ornamental. Few plants are more easily grown, or more quickly propagated. Seeds of many of the finer sorts may be bought cheaply from respectable seedsmen. These should be sown in heat, in February or March. A warm house or cucumber pit is the best place for sowing the seeds, which are very hard. If soaked in tepid water for twenty-four hours, germination will be materially stimulated. A mixture of sand and leaf mould is best for them, and a covering of 1½in. or 2in. of earth is not exce ive. They should be sown thinly, in pans. As Cannas are gro , and have somewhat brittle roots in a young state, it is a good plan to sow the seed singly in small pots. This method preserves all the roots intact, and prevents any check in potting off or dividing the plants out of seed pans or boxes. When this is not done, the plants must be potted off singly, as soon as they have formed two leaves, 3in. pots being used for the first shift. The soil can hardly be too rich and porous. Equal parts rotted dung, loam, and sand, with a little peat, form a capital mixture for them. The plants must be kept in a growing temperature of 60deg. or so, during their earlier stages, and shifted as required into larger pots. Under proper management, the roots will fill 6in. pots by the middle or end of May. They ought not to be planted out till the end of May or the first week in June. Should fairly rich soil and a sheltered place be selected for them, they will not only grow, but flower freely during the late summer and autumn months. Cannas are also very effective indoors, either for greenhouse or room decoration. For these purposes they may be grown on in 8in., 10in., or even 12in., pots, with rich soil, and placed either in a stove, intermediate house, warm or cool conservatory, window, or room. Liberal supplies of manure water will be of very great benefit. Propagation is also effected by means of divisions; they form a root-stock very like some of the commoner and more free-growing Irises, each portion of which, with bud and roots attached, may be converted into an independent plant. The best mode of procedure is to divide the root-stock in early spring, when the pieces may be placed in 4in. pots at once; and, if plunged in a bottom heat of 60deg. or so, they will quickly resume root action and grow rapidly. They may also be propagated by division without bottom heat. Those who grow large quantities seldom put their plants in pots at all. Stored in pots or boxes for the winter, they are divided and placed singly in similar positions in the spring, and transferred from such ve els into the open air. The best open site for Cannas is in a sheltered spot, with a good depth of rich soil, and plenty of moisture. In such a position, their noble leaves are not so much injured by rough winds. After flowering, or at the end of the season, they may be lifted and stored away in boxes, or in pots of earth, in dry, frost-proof sheds, or under greenhouse stages during winter. In warm, sheltered situations, with dry bottoms, they winter safely in the open, provided their crowns are covered with 1ft. of litter or cocoa fibre refuse. But where the soil is wet and cold, or the situation bleak and unprotected, they should be lifted and stored away, as already described.