Vnl IV J2.00AYEAR. 



24 Numbers. 



CHICAGO. JANUARY 15, 1896. ®TocInts" ^o. 81. 





wmm 





REX BEGONIAS AT MR. BRAMHALLS. ORANGE. N. J. 



The Greenhouse. 



REX BEGONIftS. 



The varieties of Rex begonias compris- 

 ing the group in the photog aph, and in 

 their order from right to left are Madame 

 Siebold, Louis Closson, Prince Bismarck, 

 and President Carnot. They were all 

 grown from cuttings made about eighteen 

 months before the photograph was taken. 

 ( If this numerous family, we find these 

 particular varieties to be the most satis- 

 factory, both in leaf and flower. They 

 not alone are effective in grouping with 

 p.-dms in the greenhouse, but when not 

 kept loo long inthe dwelling, are adapted 



to use as house decorative plants. They 

 also have the merit oi cheapness. The 

 large plants in the photograph are in 

 6-inch pots, and are grown in a compost 

 01 one-third each of leafloam, thoroughly 

 rotted manure and good garden soil. 

 We give them plenty of water at the 

 roots, and find they thrive in a high and 

 humid temperature, and shaded from the 

 direct sunlight. Fi.oranoi.. 



South Orange, N. J., December 2, IS!).''). 



BEGONIflS. 



I have given my begonias full sunshine, 

 shade, plenty of" water, and no water, 

 but under all circumstances they refuse to 

 thrive. B. rubra alba sheds the healthy 

 fresh green half grown leaves, but con- 

 tinues to form new ones only to repeat 



the performance. B. alba picta is begin- 

 ning to do likewise. They have a soil of 

 black prairie loam and sand. I use Bow- 

 ker's food for plants. Is B Rex magniUca 

 a vigorous grower? I have had one over 

 a year and it has two leaves. E. B. A. 

 Hammond, Ind. 



There is something radically wrong 

 with all ot your begonias, and we cannot 

 tell what it is. But we can advise you in 

 a general way. Turn them out oi" their 

 |)Ots to see what like their roots are; if 

 these are dead or rusty, and at the base 

 of the plant there is decay or rust in the 

 stem or rootstock, we would dump them 

 out, as not being worth the bother of 

 trying to recuperate, indeed the trial is 

 apt to fail. And we would send to the 



