1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



359 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF CHOICE 

 GLOXINIAS. 



BY MR. FYFE, MOUNT AUBURN, MASS. 



The Gloxinia has now become a general favor- i 

 ite with all lovers of flowers, and the vast num- 

 ber of fine varieties raised from seeds of the ] 

 first, of the upright sorts Fyfiana, has created 

 quite a stimulus for the cultivation of this fine 

 herbaceous stove plant; a few hints therefore, 

 in the Monthly may not be out of place for 

 the successful cultivation of tliis fine exotic. | 

 After flowering, the bulbs should be sparingly I 

 watered, and when completely at rest the pots 

 containing them be laid on their sides to secure 

 them from any water lodging on the crown of 

 the tuber. The most desirable place for storing 

 them during their season of rest is in the 

 vicinity of hot- water pipes or common smoke 

 flues. On the return of the growing season 

 when they show signs of returning life, they 

 must be turned out of the pots and the old soil 

 shaken from the tuber, still retaining the fi- 

 brous roots of the previous season. They may 

 then be potted in clean pots in the following | 

 mixture of equal parts of loam, peat, leafl 

 mould and sand well mixed; the leaf mould 

 may be the greater portion of this compost, as : 

 in their native country, which is chiefly equinoc- i 

 tial America, they are found growing in the 

 woods where the earth is little more than a bed 

 of rotten leaves and bark. The whole of this ^ 

 beautiful natural order Gesneracese containing j 

 Gesueria, Codouophora, Penteraphia, Sinningia, 

 Besiberia, and Gloxinia may be successfully 

 grown in the above mixture ; but I find in regard 

 to Gloxinia, that when grown for a number of 

 years the tubers get worn out, and the plants 

 naturally get stunted and shabby and covered 

 with rust. I would therefore suggest that a 

 3'early suppl}^ be raised from seeds selected 

 from the finest of the sorts contained in a col- 

 lection, and in view of being successful in get- 

 ting a fine brood of hybrids, let all the finest 

 sorts be placed close together so that the flowers 

 may be in close proximity to one another; in 

 this way they have every chance of being im- 

 pregnated, one with the other, and in view of 

 raising new varieties let the pollen of Gesneria, 

 Sinningia and other genera as nearly allied 

 be dusted on the stigma of the plants chosen 

 for impregnation. It may seem strange to 

 some of our successful hybridizers of plants 



when I state the circumstance that the parent 

 plant of Gloxinia Fyfiana was profusely dusted 

 with the pollen of Digitalis purpurea, Lophos- 

 permum scandens, Datura Wrightii, Brug- 

 mansia sanguiuea. The former two species 

 belonging to the natural order Scrophulariacese 

 and the latter two to Solanacese ; this may 

 account for its taking the erect form of in- 

 floresence which several of the genera of these 

 orders have a part. In thus relating my ex- 

 perience in the interesting study of the hy- 

 bridization of plants, I am aware that I am tread- 

 I ing on dangerous ground, and that it is a subject 

 I fit for a genius such as a Jussieu or a Lindley to 

 j unravel. [The Editor dissents of course.] 



In following out my hints on the cultivation 

 of the Gloxinia, in raising a stock of young 

 plants, let the following suggestions be followed 

 I out. Having procured some seed pans, let them 

 : be drained with broken pots, and let the drain- 

 age be covered with some of the siftings of de- 

 cayed leaves ; the pans may then be filled with 

 the mixture recommended for growing the 

 plants to about one inch of the top of the 

 pan, filling the rest of the space with some of 

 the same soil to within one-half inch of the top ; 

 this last addition of soil must be very fine, 

 having been put through a fine sieve. When all 

 is compressed and firm, the seeds which are 

 very small may then be rubbed on the surface 

 of the pans, and if any covering be added it 

 must be of the slightest nature and very fine,— 

 something like dust. As the seedlings progress, 

 I and when they can be handled, they should be 

 removed from the seed pan into other prepared 

 pans or boxes, putting them in promiscuously, 

 giving space to increase in size, placing them in 

 shady frames on a damp surface. When they 

 arrive at a considerable size they should be re- 

 moved singly into pots and then shifted from 

 size to size, potting with the same soil recom- 

 mended above for large plants, until they arrive 

 at maturity, which if carefully attended to may 

 be in the Fall of the same season. They may as 

 they progress be copiously supplied with man- 

 ure water, filtrated from any sediment, as I 

 have used water strongly impregnated with 

 night soil, to great advantage. I have now only 

 to°add a word or two in regard to the treatment 

 of the plants until they arrive at full maturity 

 and in full bloom. They should never be placed 

 on wooden stages, as I find that these recep- 

 ticles are not fitted for plants of any tribe in 

 this arid climate, the wood often getting so warm 



