180 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
FUCHSIA. 
want to produce flower-spikes towards the 
end of summer, and if flowers are needed 
they may be allowed to bloom; but if the 
object is to get the plants as strong as pos- 
sible the second year, it is well to pinch 
them out. If, before the autumn is too far 
advanced, any seem to be short of room, 
give them pots an inch or two larger, and 
encourage them to root into the new soil 
before winter, during which season they 
will do anywhere out of the reach of frost ; 
keep them a little drier at the roots through 
the dormant time. In the spring those 
that were not potted in the autumn must 
be shifted, the size of the pots being regu- 
lated by the strength of the plants. This 
season they may be expected to bloom well. 
At the time the flower-spikes are about to 
make their appearance they are much 
strengthened by weak manure-water once 
a week. 
F. wppendiculata. Bears reddish-crimson 
flowers, and makes an effective pot plant. 
F. ramosa. This is the best known, and 
may be looked upon as the handsomest 
and most useful kind ; its pretty white 
flowers stand conspicuous among anything 
else with which they are associated. 
InsEcts.—For aphides, which are some- 
times troublesome on these plants, fumi- 
gate. 
FUCHSIA. 
The combination of good properties 
which the family of Fuchsias possess is 
so well known that it is needless to say 
anything here in their favour. Much has 
been done in raising seedling varieties, by 
which the size and colour of the flowers, 
and the general habit of the plants, have 
been greatly improved. 
They are among the easiest of greenhouse 
plants to propagate, and their after growth 
is no more difficult. Cuttings will strike 
at any time of the year when soft shoots 
that have not formed flowers can be had. 
The principal thing to be kept in view is 
the necessity for getting the plants well on 
in size early in spring, as the natural dis- 
position to bloom when the summer season 
approaches is such that they make iwnuch 
less progress afterwards. To obtain mode- 
rate-sized examples that will come into 
flower as the spring gets advanced, and in 
summer, the cuttings should be struck in 
the first months of the year, say at the be- 
ginning of February ; for this purpose old 
plants, of the sorts to be increased, should 
be placed in an intermediate heat at the 
latter end of December ; here they will 
break into growth immediately. When 
the young shoots are 2 or 3 inches long 
take them off and insert half-a-dozen to- 
gether in 6-inch pots filled with sand; 
stand in a temperature of 65°, keep them 
moist and close, and they will root. in a 
fortnight, after which let them have the 
full air of the house ; move singly into 
3-inch pots in good turfy loam, broken fine, 
to which add some rotten manure, leaf 
mould, and sand. As soon as they begin 
to grow stand close to the glass, and keep 
the night temperature now about 60°, with 
a little more in the day ; syringe overhead 
in the afternoons and let the atmosphere 
be moderately moist. As the sun’s power 
increases give a little shade in the middle 
of the day, syringing overhead in the after- 
noons ; the plants will now grow apace. 
Varieties that do not branch freely should 
have the points of the leading shoots 
pinched out, but many of the sorts now 
grown will make side-growths sufficient 
without stopping. When the roots get 
well hold of the new soil move into pots 4 
or 5 inches larger, and let the soil now be 
more lumpy, but well enriched, and make 
it firm in the pots. Treat as before in the 
matter of moisture, admitting more air as 
the spring advances, and continuing to 
shade when necessary. Each plant should 
now havea stick for support ; if the object 
is to grow all or any part of the stock 
larger, they must again be moved, this 
time into pots from 10 to 12 inches in 
diameter ; stop the points of all the shoots, 
including the leader, and continue to treat 
generally as before. Plants so managed 
may be expected to flower profusely in 
July, and through the following months ; 
such as were let to bloom in the second 
pots they were moved to from the cutting 
state will bloom in May. In all cases 
their flowering may be prolonged by the 
use of manure-water, given in a weak state, 
if too strong it will cause the flower-buds 
to fall off. Where very large specimens 
are required it is best to strike the cuttings 
about August, to keep them growing slowly 
through the winter, and to pot on as 
advised for the winter-struck stock. 
Old plants with the branches cut back 
freely early in spring, put in a little 
warmth, and just as they have broken 
shaken out of the old soil and repotted in 
new, treated afterwards as recommended 
for the younger stock, will make large 
specimens that will bloom well. In this 
way they can be made to do duty for 
several years, but young plants are better 
furnished, and have a nicer appearance. 
The undermentioned is a good selec- 
tion :— 
SINGLE DARK VARIETIES, 
F’, Covent Garden Scarlet. 
