78 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the use of the syringe should be dis- 

 continued, as it splashes the pollen 

 about the foliage, and spoils their 

 beauty. 



The fuchsia is partial to shade, 

 but should not be denied some 

 amount of sunshine. Seeing what 

 tremendous growth any vigorous 

 variety will make in the open ground, 

 when the soil is rich, and water is 

 supplied in abundance, it is evident 

 that sunshine is by no means baneful. 

 But the fierce glare and dry heat 

 to which they are sometimes sub- 

 jected under glass, is detrimental, 

 and fine plants cannot be produced 

 under such circumstances, unless 

 shading is resorted to during the 

 mid-day in sunny weather. The 

 dark varieties will bear and require 

 more sun than the light kinds. Ex- 

 cess of sunshine, moreover, will cause 

 the blooms to be shed before opening, 

 and defects of drainage bring about 

 a similar result. 



Whatever the form and character 

 of the plants, it is most important 

 to have the wood well ripened in 

 autumn ; growing, as we do, about 

 two hundred varieties, we are obliged 

 to adopt the simplest plan of accom- 

 plishing this. 



As the plants go out of bloom 

 they are removed to a bed of ashes 

 in a pit, the lights of which are re- 

 moved ; there the supply of water is 

 diminished, they are exposed to all 

 weathers, and pretty well take care 

 of themselves until they have tasted 

 a slight frost, after which they are 

 removed for the winter. Standards 

 and pyramids of large size are kept 

 moving all winter. Small stock plants 

 for the next season are stored in a 

 cool house, and merely protected 

 from the frost until February, when 

 they are started in a gentle heat over 

 a dung-bed or hot-water tank, and 

 cuttings taken as required. 



Properties. — It is no easy matter 

 to determine the proper proportions 

 of a show fuchsia. Our old favourite, 

 Duchess of Lancaster, is too long in 

 the tube ; Big Ben is too large and 

 loose in the corolla ; and Crinoline, 

 though so attractive, cannot be con- 

 sidered perfect in form — in fact, we 

 could not endure many such varieties. 



The tube should certainly be visible 

 from the berry to the opening of the 

 sepals ; the sepals should be broad 

 and refiexed, so as to show their under 

 surfaces ; and the corolla should form 

 a close cup, with the least possible 

 indentations at the overlapping of 

 the petals. Prince Leopold comes 

 very near to what I imagine to be 

 the form of a perfect fuchsia ; but the 

 corolla is rather too large and Crino- 

 line-like thoroughly to satisfy me. 

 Earl of Devon, Bo-Peep, Excellent, 

 Autocrat, Souvenir de Chiswick, Al- 

 bert Smith, and Catherine Hayes, are 

 the best-proportioned fuchsias I can 

 call to mind; they are thoroughly 

 symmetrical, with substantial refiexed 

 sepals, close cup-like corollas, and 

 their colours are exquisite. In re- 

 gard to colour, selfs, such as Alpha 

 and Comte de Boileau, are of no 

 value, though useful as bedders and 

 border flowers. A good contrast is 

 needed between sepals and corolla; 

 and in light flowers the white, whether 

 of sepals or corolla, should be pure, 

 with no stain of green, brown, or 

 orange, the first defect being very 

 common. Conspicua and Madame 

 Cornelissen very nearly satisfy every 

 requirement, though their colouring 

 is a reversion of the ordinary rule. Koi 

 des Blanches has a very pure white 

 calyx, though otherwise a second-class 

 flower. The rich purple of Schiller 

 contrasts most beautifully with the 

 white sepals when grown under glass, 

 but in beds the white of the sepals 

 acquires a brown stain. The more 

 pure and definite the colours, if com- 

 bined with good qualities of form, 

 the higher will the flower rank in 

 the order of merit. The footstalks 

 should be long enough to allow the 

 flowers to droop gracefully, and 

 graceful curving lines should prevail 

 throughout the plant, both in dispo- 

 sition of the branches, foliage, and 

 clusters of flowers. 



A SELECTION OF THIRTY VARIETIES 

 ADAPTED FOR EXHIBITION. 



Dark. — Comet, Senator, Always 

 Beady, Earl of Devon, Josefa, Pau- 

 line, Prince Imperial, Lord Macaulay, 

 Lord Elcho, Souvenir de Chiswick, 



