GLOXINIA. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
189 
they will require shifting into 4-inch pots ; 
use the soil without sifting, and treat them 
as has just been recommended. When they 
bloom the best kinds ought to be marked 
for propagation and the inferior ones dis- 
carded. 
After the flowering is over give less 
water, discontinue shading, and admit 
more air, so as to ripen the growth. When 
the leaves have died down the soil should 
be allowed to become quite dry; keep 
them through the winter in a tempera- 
ture of 50°: it is not safe to keep them 
cooler than this for any length of time. 
They generally winter best when the bulbs 
are allowed to remain in the soil and pots 
in which they have been grown, but as they 
become large, and are in pots of a consider- 
able size, this is not always convenient ; in 
that case the roots should be stored in 
paper bags filled with dry sand to preserve 
them from the air, otherwise they shrivel, 
and thereby receive serious injury. 
Te give a succession of flowers through 
the summer a portion of the plants may 
be started about the middle of February, 
and a further supply in March. Let the 
pots be proportionate to the size of the 
tubers—about 7 inches in diameter will be 
large enough for the second season. In 
potting just leave the crowns of the tubers 
on a level with the surface of the soil, and 
immediately they are potted, place them 
in a temperature of 60° at night, allowing 
it to become 5° or 10° warmer by day ; if 
not put in heat as soon as potted, the roots 
will rot. The soil ought to be in a slightly 
moist state when used, and little water 
should be given until growth has com- 
menced. Treat them throughout the 
season as to heat, shade, light, and mois- 
ture as recommended for the preceding 
summer. As already pointed out, their 
satisfactory flowering will depend upon 
their receiving abundance of light ; a shelf 
over a pathway within a few inches of the 
roof isthe best place for them. In such a 
situation not only do they get the requisite 
amount of light, but they also receive more 
air, and both are essential for securing 
short, sturdy growth. This summer they 
will bloom well and their tubers will in- 
crease considerably in size, yet it is in the 
third and fourth years after sowing that 
they will make the finest display. When 
the tubers get large they may be divided, 
some of the buds with which the crown is 
furnished being retained to each portion ; 
but the most general method of propa- 
gation and by far the most expeditious is 
by leaf cuttings. 
If the leaves are taken off in summer 
when fully matured, with a portion of the 
stalks attached to them, and this portion 
is inserted in 4-inch or 5-inch pots, drained 
and filled with half peat or loam and sand, 
with half an inch of sand on the top, and 
kept in a brisk heat, slightly shaded and 
moist, they will form healthy bulbs before 
autumn. If the variety to be increased is 
scarce, several may be produced from single 
leaves by cutting the midrib through on 
the under side in four or five places. Then 
lay the leaves flat on the soil in pots or 
pans prepared as above ; over each place 
where the midrib has been severed secure 
the cut parts to the soil with a pebble 
about the size of a cockle, and at these 
points small tubers will be formed which, 
when the leaves have decayed in the 
autumn, will require to be wintered and 
afterwards grown on in every way as re- 
commended for the plants raised from seed. 
The following named varieties are all 
well worth growing :— 
ERECT FLOWERING KINDS. 
G. A. Haut. 
zone. 
A. Alfred de Musset. 
with lilac. 
G. Byron. White, amaranth lobes. 
G. Chateaubriand. White lobes, throat 
delicate rose. 
G. Don Luis of Portugal. White tube, 
throat spotted carmine, zone violet, white 
limb. 
G. Duke of Edinburgh. Tube white, 
throat deep violet, shaded with maroon. 
G. James Brand. Throat creamy yellow, 
spotted with violet, lobes violet. 
G. Magenta Queen. Tube deep red, base 
of limb deep crimson, edged with magenta. 
G. Mr. Thomas Binney. Red throat, 
limb crimson. 
G. Panthére. Blue, spotted with white, 
throat white and massive. 
G. Scarlet Gem. White tube, throat spotted 
with lilac, limb deep scarlet. 
G. The Czar. Tube white, limb purplish- 
violet. 
Blue spotted on a white 
Bright red, striped 
PENDENT VARIETIES. 
G. Alice. Limb mauve, throat yellow. 
G. Angeline. Tube rose, barred with 
white. 
G. Bird of Paradise. 
spotted. 
G. delicata. Outside of tube white, in- 
side violet, base of lobes margined with 
white. 
G. Eblouissant. Bright red, throat white. 
G. Grand Monarch. Tube white, throat 
violet, spotted with white, limb deep 
crimson. 
Lilac throat, white 
