THE BEGONIA. 



377 



of young plants. These little bulbs fur- 

 nish a means whereby the plants may be 

 distributed with facility and success. 



Nothing- has yet been done in the way of 

 hybridising the Begonia, and yet tjiere does 

 not appear to be any reason why the same 

 effects should not be produced among these 

 plants, which have been observed and expe- 

 rienced with others ; or, in other words, 

 there seems no reason why the good quali- 



Fig. 89. Begonia Martiana. 



ties of several of the species should not be 

 amalgamated into one plant. If this is to 

 be effected, it is by the practice of a judi- 

 cious course of hybridising. There is not 

 much to be done in the mixing of colors; 

 white and red, and intermediate tints, being 

 all that are at present known. The deep 

 tint of B. coccineamighi indeed, be impart- 

 ed to some of the other forms of growth : 

 or even white flowers might be produced in 

 company with the foliage of those kinds 

 which exhibit a considerable deal of red in- 

 termixed with dark green ; on such a basis 

 as this, pure white flowers would appear 

 very charming. The increase of the size 

 cf the flowers of some, and the reduction 

 of the size of the foliage in others, are 

 points which might be aimed at, and would 

 doubtless be accomplished ; the former, 

 especially, would be desirable. But the 

 48 



chief advantage to be gained from hybridi- 

 sing, in the case of the Begonia, appears 

 to be that of increasing the size of the 

 panicle, and, consequently, the aggregate 

 number of blossoms; in some cases the pa- 

 nicle is large and exceedingly gracefully 

 disposed; while in many others, the bunch- 

 es of flowers are small and formal, and 

 would admit of increased size and a more 

 elegant disposition, with advantage to the 

 general effect of the plants. The constant 

 flowering habit of one or tAVo of the spe- 

 cies, also, is a characteristic which might be 

 communicated to others with advantage. 

 There is hardly scope for efl^ecting much in 

 the way of inducing a greater degree of 

 hardiness among these plants ; but, perhaps 

 even something might be done in this way, 

 and whatever might be secured, however 

 trifling in amount, would be so far an im- 

 provement. We leave out all speculations 

 as to improving the form of the individual 

 blossoms, for the subject we are treating of 

 is not one likely to suit the tastes of the 

 florist ; and his (so considered) improve- 

 ments would not be appreciated by the ad- 

 mirers oi Nature's forms and proportions. 



Where the cultivation of any individual 

 family is attempted, in a Wardian case, we 

 know of none which could be chosen which 

 would be so likely to succeed to the utter- 

 most, and to satisfy, by the growth and 

 blossoms produced. Space is the only re- 

 striction which need be put upon the kinds 

 employed for this purpose, for the Wardian 

 case is but circumscribed in extent, conse- 

 quently, in choosing plants for cultivation in 

 it, those should be selected which would 

 have space to grow and produce blossoms, 

 and at the same time leave room enough in 

 the interior to admit of their beintr seen and 

 examined without difficulty. We may re- 

 fer to some remarks formerly ofllered for in- 

 structions in the management of plants 

 growing in these cases, the general princi- 

 ples of which are the same in all instances 

 requiring only a slight adaptation to suit the 

 characters of the particular class of plants 

 cultivated. The Begonias, being rather 

 fleshy and succulent in their nature, would 

 require rather less of moisture than plants 

 of a more rigid composition; a loamy soil 

 with abundance of drainage would suit them 



