August 18, 186S. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTXJKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



1^ 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



AUGUST 18-24, 18G3. 



Fluellin flowers. 

 Fumiiory ftowers. 

 Blickcncii sbor>lm{i begins. 

 Sun's dcclin. 12" 13' n. 

 Bonpland born, 1773. Rot. 

 12 Sdkuat after TniMTT. 

 St. BAarHOLOMEW. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



4 



6 

 6 

 7 



D 

 9 

 10 



m. 8. 

 e 44 



Day of 

 Year. 



230 

 231 

 232 

 233 

 234 

 23S 

 236 



From observations taken near London during the last thirtv-six years, the average day temperature of the week is 73.2°, and its nieht 

 temperature 50.4". Tlie greilest keat was 9;", on the 18th- 1342; and the lowest cold, 32'', on the 2l3t, 1830. The greatest lall of rain 

 was 0.95 inch. 



SEEDLING GLOXINIAS. 



i_>^/?B7V^,S the information asked for by a cor- 

 TJv >»• ^ respondent regarding tlie treatment 

 of seedling Gloxinias appears to in- 

 clude the method of sowing the 

 seed, as well as the after-manage- 

 ment of the young plants, it 

 may perhaps lie as well to begin 

 at the beginning. 



About the middle of Febru- 

 ary is a good time to sow Glox- 

 inias. If deferred till further on in 

 the season the chances are against their 

 flowering, or forming bulbs sufficiently 

 strong to keep well through the winter. 

 A well-drained pot or seed-pan should 

 be fiUed nearly to the brim with soQ consisting of two 

 parts loam, one part peat, one part well-rotted leaf mould 

 rather finely sifted, and one part sand. The top half- 

 inch of soil should be passed through a sieve of quarter- 

 inch mesh, and the surface made level and smooth for 

 the reception of the small seeds. Thick sowing should 

 be avoided, because the plants become crowded and 

 drawn, as well as more likely to suffer from damping-ofF 

 before they are large enough, for being transferred into 

 pots or pricked-off into pans. For the same reason it is 

 a great error to sow any similar seeds thickly, for when 

 plants become drawn and spindly in the seed-pan it re- 

 quires some trouble to get them stocky again, and in the 

 case of some things it is a hopeless task. Gloxinias are 

 very apt to fog-oft' in patches when they are thick in the 

 seedling-pot. When the seed is sown, and just sufficiently 

 covered to hide it, the surface of the soil should be nearly 

 half an inch below the mouth of the pot. After being 

 watered thi'ough a fine rose, plunge the pot or pan in 

 a gentle bottom heat where such can be afi'orded. They 

 wUl, however, germinate freely in a temperature of 70° 

 without bottom heat. Either a beU-glass or a pane of 

 glass should be placed over the pot to prevent rapid 

 evaporation of moisture and help to maintain a uniform 

 temperature. .Alternations from drought to moisture 

 must be avoided, or the young plants may never make 

 their appearance at all. A medium state of moisture, 

 with as few applications of water as possible, should be 

 the aim. With this view, in the rearing of seeds it is a 

 good plan to place the seed-pan in a saucerful of water, 

 when, by the action of capillary attraction, the soil is kept 

 more uniformly moist than when water is applied at the 

 surface in the usual way. However, the Gloxinia is by 

 no means precarious in germinating, and with ordinary 

 care is sure to vegetate if sown and treated as has been 

 directed. 



When the young plants make their appearance the 

 bell-glass should be tilted up at one side, and more air 

 admitted by degrees, till the glass be entirely removed. 

 Care must tlien be taken that the young plants are not 

 exposed to the sun, and that the surface of the soil does 

 not at any time become mealy dry ; and altliough shaded 

 No. 125.— Vol. V., Net SKEiEe 



from direct sunshine they should be kept on a shelf neai- 

 to the glass; and, if they have come up thickly, they 

 should either be thinned out, or pricked-off into pans 

 before they become drawn, or run the risk of damping-off. 



When they are large enough to be handled conveni- 

 ently they should be potted into 24-inch pots ; and if it 

 be an object to flower as many of them as possible, with 

 the view of selecting the best varieties, two or three 

 may be put into one pot : but if room can be afforded, 

 it is preferable to pot them singly. The soil used for 

 potting them may be exactly the same as that recom- 

 mended for sowing the seed, only neither the loam nor 

 the peat should have any of the fibre sifted out of it. 

 When potted and well watered they may be placed in a 

 pit, frame, or stove, where they can have a night tempe- 

 rature of 65° to 70° ; and if they can be plunged in a 

 bottom heat of 75° to 80° they will make more rapid 

 progress than when simply placed on a shelf or the sur- 

 face of a bed. If placed on a shelf in the stove some 

 moss or sphagnum should be placed under and about 

 the pots to prevent them from drying up too quickly. 

 Wherever they are put they should not be placed in 

 the shade of other plants, but near the glass, where they 

 can be shaded from the sun, and have a kindly moist 

 stove temperature. If treated thus they will soon make 

 nice stubby-leaved plants, and will require being shifted 

 into pots a size larger. Four or five-inch pots will be 

 quite sufficient for the first year. A little old well-de- 

 composed cowdung may be added to the compost already 

 named with advantage. They should still be kept in a 

 stove temperature, and be shaded from the direct rays 

 of the sun in the middle of the day. Under such cir- 

 cumstances they will grow rapidly and make nice flower- 

 ing bulbs for next season, and some may throw up a few 

 flowers the first season. 



When Gloxinias expand their first flower they should 

 be gradually hardened-ofi' tiU removed to the greenhouse, 

 where they will form a show in the height of summer and 

 continue to flower a long time. They must, however, be 

 placed in a position where they will not be exposed to 

 di'ying currents of air, and they bloom best in a tem- 

 perature a little warmer than is generally maintained in 

 a greenhouse. 



When done flowering and the foliage shows symptoms 

 of waning, water at the root must be gradually withheld, 

 and the soil allowed to become drier and drier till tliey 

 are entirely set at rest for the winter. The best winter 

 quarters for the bulbs is that where tliey wUl be free 

 from drip and not be exposed to a temperature that 

 ranges much below 55°. 



In spring, the time to start them must be regidated 

 by the time they are required to flower. If started m 

 February they will bloom in June. Tliey should be 

 entirely shaken out of the old dry sofl and put into four- 

 inch pots, or they may be ])laccd at once in six-mch 

 pots, in which they wiU make fine plants and yield a 

 large crop of bloom. I have never found that much is 

 gained by putting Gloxinias into large pots, except m 

 the case of old and large bulbs, which, of course, must 

 No. 777.— Vol. XXX., Old Series. 



