1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



109 



Tuberous Begonias as Bedders. — A cor- 

 respondent in the February London Journal of 

 Horiiculture says : 



" The great merits of these plants are as bed- 

 bers. In my estimation they are more beautiful 

 than Zonal Pelargoniums and more enduring. 

 Pelargoniums when at their best have every 

 particle of beauty washed away by a few days 

 of wet weather. iTot so Begonias ; they revel 

 in moisture like all sub-alpines — percolating 

 moisture secured by thorough drainage. Those, 

 therefore, intending their culture (and it will be- 

 come general) will do well to provide thorough 

 drainage and a sheltered situation, as the plants 

 being succulent cannot stand twisting currents 

 of air and cold positions. They prefer a vegeta- 

 ble soil, and do well in the wide interstices of 

 rock-work holding a goodly amount of compost, 

 in which they may remain permanently, having 

 a mulch over them in "Winter of cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse 3 or 4 inches thick. 



For Summer bedding pot the corms in March, 

 plunging the pots in ashes in a cold frame, keep- 

 ing close and protecting from frost until growth 

 takes place, then admit air moderately, sprink- 

 ling overhead in the afternoon of bright days, 

 closing earlj-. By the middle of June they will 

 be in good growth, and being hardened off" 

 should then be planted out. In cold localities I 

 advise their being planted in borders along the 

 sides of plant houses with a south exposure, in 

 which with a covering of cocoa-nut fibre refuse 

 three inches thick they will no doubt prove 

 hardy. In wet and cold soils the roots may be 

 lifted after the first frost, and be laid in a shed 

 for a few days to dry, and having most of the 

 soil removed be stored away like Dahlia tubers 

 in sand in a cool place safe from frost, where 

 they may remain until potting time in Spring. 

 But an amateur tells me all this ' potting and 

 bother ' is quite unnecessary, as the Begonias 



only require the treatment he gives his Dahlias 

 — viz., planthig the roots in April three inches 

 deep, inverting a flower pot over them until 

 the growth cracks the soil, then removing 

 the flower pots every fine day and night, 

 covering the plants only when there are 

 signs of frost, and ' you know I have the best 

 display of flowers of those plants until frost of 

 anybody hereabouts.' " 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



New Regal Pelargonium, Mrs. John Saul. 

 — Mr. John Saul has issued a plate of this variety, 

 which originated in his own establishment. The 

 writer of this had the opportunity of seeing the 

 best of the new ones, in the leading establish- 

 ments of England, last year — some of which are 

 not sent out yet — and he can say that Mr. .John 

 Saul's is equal to the best of any of these 

 prospective new ones. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Growing Epiphyllum truncatum. — E. B. 

 C, Winona, Ohio, says : '•' Will the editor of the 

 Monthly please give the method of growing 

 Epiphyllum truncatum and vars, so as to induce 

 them to bloom. I have plants one year from 

 cutting, on their own roots, which, as yet show 

 no indications of flowering, although they have 

 made good growth. What season of the year is 

 best to propagate so as to induce them to flower 

 about New Year's, and what method of treat- 

 ment would bring about this ? Perhaps some of 

 the correspondents of the Monthly, for instance, 

 J. Taplin, could write an article, giving detail 

 wanted. I understand James Taplin has been 

 very successful with these plants, is Avhy I 

 instance him. 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



NOTES ON RASPBERRIES. 



BY J. A. D., ST. JOSEPH, MICH. 



In the February number of 1877 is a statement 

 from the Country Gentleman^ that the Wilson's 

 Early Blackberry is not hardy much farther 



north than Philadelphia ; and your statement 

 that j'^ou supposed it as hardy as the Lawton. 

 The Wilson's Early Blackberry is about as hardy 

 here as the Lawton ; but both are killed about 

 every other winter. The Lawton may be a little 

 hardier, but generally, when standing side by 

 side, the canes of the Lawton have been killed 

 whenever the Wilson Early has been destroyed. 



