BEGONIA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
65 
the old-established kinds will be found 
well adapted for use at this season. When 
the pots are full of roots they will be bene- 
fited by occasional applications of manure- 
water, especially at the time of their 
flowering. When they have done bloom- 
ing it is best to destroy the plants, except 
such as are required to provide cuttings for 
another year. For the latter purpose it is 
necessary to give them proper attention, for 
if neglected they do not make shoots suit- 
able for growing on freely. The following 
sorts will answer well for autumn and 
winter blooming :— 
B. cinnabarina. A tall, free-growing 
kind ; when well managed nearly always 
in bloom. It bears handsome heads of 
yellow-tinted flowers. From Bolivia. 
B. dipetala. One of the freest bloomers 
of all the species, pink in colour. Bombay. 
B. fuchsioides. A small-leaved, tall- 
growing species, with coral-red flowers, 
which it produces in profusion from the 
points of the shoots. New Grenada. 
B. Griffith. This is a white-flowered 
sort, very distinct in character. Intro- 
duced from Bhotan. 
B. Ingrami. A hybrid, with pretty 
pink flowers. 
B. manicata. A strong-growing species, 
with large leaves and stout stems. It bears 
a dense head of handsome, delicate pink 
flowers, on tall stalks. From Brazil. 
B. Prestoniensis. A hybrid variety, of 
bushy habit, bearing quantities of bright 
scarlet flowers. A desirable plant. 
B. zanthina lazula. A yellow-flowered, 
very distinct species, from Assam. 
INsEcTs.—One great recommendation 
these Begonias have is their immunity 
from insects, as they rarely are affected 
with any of the pests that infest stove 
plants in particular. 
‘ 
BEGONIA. 
(Ornamental-leaved.) 
When the first fine-leaved Begonias made 
their appearance they were much prized. 
Many of the noble variegated plants since 
introduced were then unknown, and there- 
fore these Begonias for a time engaged 
much attention. Several of the most 
effective kinds are hybrids. The different 
species cross freely, and seedlings are 
easily raised. The species and varieties 
that come under the head of the fine- 
leaved section are mostly from warm 
latitudes, and consequently require arti- 
ficial heat in which to grow well; yet 
several will succeed in a lower temperature 
than that in which they are often tried. 
B. Rex, in itself a handsome plant, has 
been the progenitor of several others both 
fine and distinct. It comes from Assam, 
and will do well with less heat than it is 
frequently supposed to require; this and 
several others of similar character will 
succeed in an intermediate Fernery, where 
their broad distinct silvery-looking leaves 
contrast effectively with those of the more 
elegant growing Ferns. 
The propagation of most of the kinds is 
as easy as their after management; they 
strike freely from cuttings made of the 
shoots, or from portions of the leaves. The _ 
latter is the more usual way of treating 
them, and is the means by which much the 
greatest number can be raised from a 
single plant, as every bit of leaf an inch or 
so square that contains a portion of the 
ribs or nerves will strike root and form a 
plant. The leaves for this purpose should 
be taken off about May or June, when 
such as have been formed early in the 
spring will have been sufficiently solidified 
to prevent damping off. Take 5 or 6 inch 
pots drained and partially filled with a 
‘mixture of sand and fine peat, the surface 
made up with sand; in these insert the 
portions of leaf so that they are one-third 
below the surface. Give as much water as 
will just keep the sand damp, but not too 
wet, or they will be liable to rot; keep 
them in an ordinary stove temperature, 
but not covered with a bell-glass, or closely 
confined in a propagating frame, and do 
not shade them too much, or they will 
decay. In a few weeks they will make 
roots, and begin to form a shoot each that 
will push up and throw out leaves like an 
ordinary shoot-cutting. When fairly esta- 
blished, move them singly into small pots 
in sandy soil—either peat or loam; they 
usually grow the freest in the former. 
Although, as we have already said, these 
Begonias are amongst the easiest of plants 
to grow, there is a great difference in the 
appearance of such as are treated in a wa 
that enables them to exhibit their best 
form and others that are managed the 
reverse way. ‘The weak-stemmed, flabby- 
leaved examples often seen are the result of 
too crowded growth, too much shade, a 
position too far from the glass, insufficient 
air and overmuch heat, all of which must 
be avoided if the plants are expected to 
fairly represent what can be done with 
them. 
A little shade they must have when the 
sun is powerful. During the growing 
season syringe them overhead once a day 
(the best time is when the air is shut off 
in the afternoon), and the water should be 
got as far as possible to the undersides of 
the leaves, as they are liable to the attacks 
