44 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



stuff, for tbey grow best in lumpy, elastic compost, the materials of 

 which are well incorporated ; the sifting should be done before 

 adding the sand. Atter repotting, they should be placed in a moist 

 brisk heat, and there is nothing to equal for this purpose a sweet 

 hot-bed. Wanting this, a tan-bed or pine-pit will do, but the 

 plunging material must be kept very moist, and the plants have but 

 little water until growth has fairly commenced. Any excess of 

 water at this stage would cause them to rot at the collar ; but when 

 in full growth they should have plenty. The cultivator will have to 

 guard against giving too much air, admitting too much light, and 

 above all against wetting the leaves. A few waterings overhead 

 will soon spoil the finest lot of begonias ever raised, and those that 

 escape utter ruin will be denuded of their exquisite beauty. In 

 furnishing a conservatory with them, therefore, take care not to 

 admit any cold draughts, and see that tlie shading is in its place 

 before removing the plants from the stove. Many a disappointment 

 has occurred through neglect of these precautions. 



PEOPAGATION. 



It is nothing new now, to talk about propagating plants from 

 leaves. Prepare a good sweet, moist hot-bed ; take off a complete 

 leaf, and lay it on the bed, and it will root in a few days. Or to do 

 the work in a more wholesale way, incise the leaf across each of the 

 principal veins, and it will at once produce a number of young plants, 

 which are to be potted in thumb pots, as soon as fairly rooted in 

 rather fine turfy peat and sand only. Some of them, as the one here 

 figured, B. dsedalea, may be increased by cutting the leaves in small 

 pieces, and pressing the cut edge of each piece gently on the surface 

 of the bed. In prop:igating-houses we generally see begonia leaves 

 at work under bell-glasses, and at a tremendous temperature. There 

 is no need of either ; a sweet dung-bed in full play will cause the 

 formation of roots almost immediately ; and there is no need of bell- 

 glasses, unless the bed is exposed to draughts of cold air, a supposi- 

 tion almost needless. Where a sweet hot-bed is not at hand for 

 leaf propagation, it is advisable to insert them in pots. Choose for 

 the purpose leaves half grown, cut off" the leaf with a sharp knife 

 close to the stem ; keep it shaded for a short while, but so that the 

 cut end will dry before planting it. Prepare five-inch pots with half 

 drainage, and the rest sandy peat with an inch of clean sand on the 

 top. Insert the leaves close to the side of the pot, and if they fall 

 over towards the centre, place a short stick there to support them. 

 Water liberally, and place at once in a close moist heat. If the air 

 is not moist, they must be covered with bell-glasses ; they must be 

 shaded from sun, and will soon form plants. 



BEGONIAS OUT OF BOOKS. 



One of the most interesting advances of the bedding system is 

 the adoption of begonias, caladiuras, and cannas, for grand tropical- 

 looking beds. B. Ilex was the first tried for this purpose, and the 

 efiect was such that the idea was soon extended to other similarly 

 bold-foliaged plants. The French gardeners have done many things 



