64 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
BEGONIA, 
off and treat afterwards as advised for 
Eriostemons, which see. 
The two undermentioned will be suf- 
ficient for the generality of growers :— 
B. gracilis. A slender-growing species 
of neat habit. 
B. purpurea. Bears purple flowers, and 
blooms in summer. 
Insecrs.—Red spider must be kept down 
by a frequent use of the syringe ; should 
aphides attack the young growth, fumigate. 
BEGONIA. 
(Fibrous- Rooted.) 
Amongst the many flowering stove plants 
now in cultivation there are few that com- 
bine the desirable properties of a long, 
and almost continuous, habit of blooming, 
with a freedom of growth that renders 
them very easy to manage. The well- 
known character of Begonias in this respect 
often causes them to suffer from neglect, 
in a way that precludes the possibility 
of their true worth being exemplified. 
This is generally caused by their being 
grown without sufficient light in dark 
corners of the stove, under the shade of 
other plants, whereas they are essentially 
light-loving subjects, requiring to be kept 
near the glass with very little shade even 
in the brightest weather. When the 
treatment is opposed to this, the leaves get 
too large, the shoots become unduly elon- 
gated, and the natural disposition to flower 
is reduced. From the day the cuttings are 
first rooted, they require all the light that 
a well-constructed house or pit can afford, 
with a drier condition of the atmosphere 
than many stove plants need ; but as it 
seldom happens that in private establish- 
ments a separate house can be afforded them, 
or the atmosphere in the matter of moisture 
be made exactly in keeping with their re- 
quirements, the next best course is to 
stand them as near the glass as they can be 
got, to shade little, and give them as much 
air as is consistent with the well-being of 
other things that may have to be grown 
along with them. In propagation, as in 
their after-growth, there is little difficulty, 
as they will root in a few weeks ; they may 
be struck at any time of the year when a 
temperature of 60° or 65° can be kept up in 
the night. If they are put in about the 
middle of March, there will be plenty of 
time to grow them into good plants for 
antumn and winter flowering, during which 
season they will be found the most useful. 
The tops of moderately strong shoots make 
the best cuttings ; but, if these are not at 
hand in sufficient quantities, smaller pieces 
will do. Cut them to a joint, which retain 
to form the base of the cutting, with a 
couple of joints above. Put them singly in 
3-inch pots, half filled up with sandy peat, 
the remainder all sand ; do not give much 
water until roots are formed, but enough 
to prevent the leaves flagging. From 
their succulent nature they are, if too 
wet, liable to rot; and they must not 
be kept too close under the propagating 
glasses, or it will have a similar effect upon 
them. In three weeks or a month they 
will be well rooted ; then remove them 
altogether from under the propagating 
glasses, and place them in the lightest place 
in the house. They should be kept at 65° 
in the night, and 10° or 15° higher in the 
day. Move them into pots four inches 
larger. They do the best in four parts 
good fibrous loam to one of leaf-mould or 
rotten dung, with enough sand to allow the 
water to percolate freely through it ; for, 
although from their quick habit of growth 
they require an abundance of moisture at 
the roots, they cannot stand anything 
approaching stagnant water in the soil. 
Stop the points of the shoots, to induce 
them to make bushy growth. Do not 
shade, except during the middle of the day, 
in very bright weather. Give plenty of air, 
admitting it sufficiently early in the morn- 
ing, but closing so as to economise sun-heat 
by shutting up whilst the sun is upon the 
glass, damping the plants slightly overhead 
at the same time. About the end of July 
they will need shifting into their blooming 
pots. The size of these must be regulated 
by the more or less vigorous habit of the 
kinds grown. Sorts such as B. manicata will 
need more root-room than weaker varieties, 
like B. fuchsioides. Eight or nine inch pots 
willbe largeenough for kinds like the latter ; 
the former should have pots ten or twelve 
inches in diameter. Use soil similar to 
that which they were last put into, but do 
not now break it so fine ; again pinch out 
the points of the shoots, if the plants do 
not appear to be sufficiently furnished, and 
place a few sticks to train them out so as to 
admit plenty of light in the centre. Do 
not give too much water until the roots 
have got well hold of the soil, and treat in 
other ways as advised in the earlier part 
of the summer. By the middle of Sep- 
tember they will have grown to a useful 
size for general purposes. 'The atmosphere 
should now be a little drier, and the 
temperature kept about 60° in the night, 
and 6° or 8° higher by day. Many of this 
family will bloom during the summer sea- 
son, but for the purposes under considera- 
tion it is not well to encourage them to do 
so, as their flowers are of much more 
service in autumn and winter. Some of 
