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Old plants of Aloe will keep healthy for several years in the same pots without a renewal of soil, and flower freely at the same time. The soil most suited to their needs is sandy loam three parts, lime rubble and broken brick one part, with a little decayed manure to strengthen the mixture. Very firm potting is necessary. Drainage is a more important item than soil, and must be perfectly arranged to enable the surplus water to run freely from the soil. Broken bricks are preferable to pieces of pots, large pieces for the bottom of the pot or tub, and smaller pieces above, till the last layer is quite fine. Some of the species need freer rooting conditions than others. A. ciliaris will grow from 5 to 7 feet in a season. A. abyssinica is of robust growth, and differs from most others in the color of the flowers, which are pure yellow, the others being mostly orange and orange-scarlet. A.plicatilis makes an ornamental tub plant when 4 or 5 feet high. Except during the period in which the species are in active growth, they need very little water, the principal idea being to keep the soil sweet and porous even when in growth. At all times the air of the house should be as dry as possible, full sunshine not hurting them. Propagation is by seeds, suckers and cuttings. The arborescent kinds should be rooted after they have completed growth. Dust over the cut part of the cutting with powdered charcoal and dry in sunshine before putting it in to root. Insert singly in as small pots as they will go into, and plunge in a sand-bed. Very little moisture is necessary while rooting.
Old plants of Aloe will keep healthy for several years in the same pots without a renewal of soil, and flower freely at the same time. The soil most suited to their needs is sandy loam three parts, lime rubble and broken brick one part, with a little decayed manure to strengthen the mixture. Very firm potting is necessary. Drainage is a more important item than soil, and must be perfectly arranged to enable the surplus water to run freely from the soil. Broken bricks are preferable to pieces of pots, large pieces for the bottom of the pot or tub, and smaller pieces above, till the last layer is quite fine. Some of the species need freer rooting conditions than others. A. ciliaris will grow from 5 to 7 feet in a season. A. abyssinica is of robust growth, and differs from most others in the color of the flowers, which are pure yellow, the others being mostly orange and orange-scarlet. A.plicatilis makes an ornamental tub plant when 4 or 5 feet high. Except during the period in which the species are in active growth, they need very little water, the principal idea being to keep the soil sweet and porous even when in growth. At all times the air of the house should be as dry as possible, full sunshine not hurting them. Propagation is by seeds, suckers and cuttings. The arborescent kinds should be rooted after they have completed growth. Dust over the cut part of the cutting with powdered charcoal and dry in sunshine before putting it in to root. Insert singly in as small pots as they will go into, and plunge in a sand-bed. Very little moisture is necessary while rooting.
A. Cameronii. Hemal. Fls. almost cinnabar-red, passing into yellow toward the top. E. Trop. Air. B.M. 7915.—A. Campylosiphon, A. Berger. Pale yellow us. E. Trop. Afr.—A. Chabaudii, Schoenl. Allied to A. stricta. Lvs. bordered with small prickles; outer segms. of fls. pale brick-red with whitish wings at apex. Trop. Afr. G.C. III. 38:102.—A. decora, Schoenl. A dwarf species having red fls. tipped with green. S. Afr. G.G. III. 38:3865.— .4. Lastii. Baker. Fls. pale yellow, greenish at top. Zanzibar.—A. laxiflóra, Hort. Very lax arrangement of fls. which are orange-red in lower part and yellow at apex. Cape Colony. G.C. HI. 39: 130, desc.—A. Marlothii, A. Berger. Extremely spiny lvs. and nearly horizontally spreading fl.-spikes. British Bechuanaland.— A. Orpenae, Schoenl. Lvs. lined with white spots and markings on both surfaces: fls. red, tipped with white. S. Afr. G.C. III. 38:3865.— .A. pallidiflora, A. Berger. A stemless plant: lvs. armed on margins with sharp spines: fls. pale flesh-color. 3. Afr. B.M. 8122.—A. pendent. A shrubby species: fls. drooping, dull yellowish red. S. Arabia. B.M. 7837.—A. rubrolutea, Schini. Unbranched st. 8 ft. high or more: lvs. armed or margins with brown deltoid and somewhat hooked spines: fls. bright red. Trop. S. W. Afr. B.M.8263.
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