GESNERA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
185 
moreover, be subjected to too low a tem- 
perature when at rest or the tubers will 
rot. From 50° to 55° at night is as low as 
they can safely be kept. Early in the 
ensuing year the old soil should be shaken 
from them, and they should be shifted 
into pots proportionate in size to that 
which the tubers have attained. Those 
that have done well will bear moving at 
once into pots 6 or 7 inches in diameter ; 
a size less will do for the smaller roots. 
Drain and fill the pots with soil such as 
that recommended for the preceding year ; 
the more fibrous material it contains the 
freer will the growth of the plants be. 
Always place the potting material before 
use where it will get a little warm ; let it 
be in rather a dry than in a moist state. 
It often happens with these, and tubers 
of a similar character, that they are 
suddenly transferred from the dry soil in 
which they have been at rest to new soil 
that contains too much moisture, from 
which they absorb so much as to cause 
their destruction. 
In potting allow the tops of the tubers 
to be just above the surface of the soil, and 
press the latter moderately firm; place 
them on a shelf in a house or pit where 
the temperature will be 60° during the 
night, with a proportionate rise in the 
daytime. Give water enough to fairly 
moisten the soil directly the tubers begin 
to push. It is important that they have 
sufficient ght as soon as shoot-growth 
commences, for if their first efforts in this 
‘direction are made in a dark situation 
the shoots quickly become drawn up weak, 
a condition that no subsequent treatment 
during the season can rectify. As solar heat 
Increases give more warmth both day and 
night. The time of their blooming will 
wary with the higher or lower temperature 
to which they are subjected, but they may 
be expected to show flower in April or 
May. When the bloom spikes appear see 
that they do not receive too much wet 
through syringing in the after-part of the 
‘day, as wet often causes the individual un- 
expanded flowers to drop. When the 
flowers begin to open the plants may be 
placed in a somewhat cooler situation, 
such as an intermediate house or a warm 
conservatory away from draughts; keep 
the soil while they are in a position of this 
kind a little drier than hitherto, but on 
no account must they be placed where too 
cold, or they will receive a check that will 
endanger their health and cause the blooms 
to fall off prematurely. If used for de- 
corative purposes in this way they should, 
as soon as the flowering is over, be at once 
moved back to the stove and regularly sup- 
plied with water until they exhibit signs 
ot going to rest. If, on the other hand, 
they are not removed during the time of 
flowering from the stove, plants that are 
started early in the year, as these were, 
will generally push up a successional crop 
of young shoots, much in the way that 
Gloxinias do, which will bloom later in 
the season. During this second growth 
weak applications of manure-water will 
materially assist them. Through the 
autumn give more air and subject them 
to a drier atmosphere until the tops have 
died down ; winter as before. By retard- 
ing growth until late in the spring they 
may be had in bloom through the autumn 
if required. The flowers can be used for 
cutting, but they are better adapted for 
decorative purposes on the plants. If care- 
fully managed the tubers go on increasing 
in size, and will last for many years. This 
class of Gesneras may also be increased by 
division of the tubers. 
The ornamental-leaved kinds, which 
also produce beautiful flowers, are mostly 
herbaceous, and have scaly roots not unlike 
those of the nearly allied genus Achimenes. 
They will strike from cuttings made of the 
young shoots, either consisting of the top 
and two or three joints, or of a couple or 
even of a single joint from the lower por- 
tion of the shoots, when not too hard or 
woody, inserted in silver sand, and covered 
with a propagating glass; for the most 
part they are, however, usually increased 
by division of their seale-like roots, which 
they form in considerable numbers. These 
may either be used whole or cut into pieces, 
according to the scarcity of the kinds or 
the quantity required; but, although a 
small piece, with care, will grow, still, as 
might be naturally supposed, the larger 
the pieces the stronger the plants will be. 
For ordinary purposes the roots used whole 
are best. As this very beautiful section of 
Gesneras is the most useful when in flower 
through the late and earliest months of the 
year, it is not wise to start the plants too 
soon; April will be time enough. The 
most convenient practice is to procure 
some good-sized propagating pans, drained 
and two-thirds filled with sifted soil made 
sufficiently light by the addition of a little 
leaf-mould and sand. Gently press the 
surface smooth; on this lay the roots 2 
inches apart and cover with half-an-inch 
of similar material. At once place them 
in a night temperature of 60° or 65°, keep- 
ing the soil only slightly moist until they 
have begun to grow. As soon as the young 
shoots have pushed up an inch above the 
surface move them singly into from 3 to 5 
inch pots, according to the strength of the 
