WINDOW GARDENING. 



199 



is now rarely seen ; its flowers are small and its foliage very different from those 

 we now cultivate. Although so insignificant, when compared to its gorgeous 

 sisters, yet its fragile flowers press beautifully, and they are great acquisitions 

 in a bouquet or wreath of pressed flowers. 



Culture. 



Fuchsias do not require a high temperature ; a very warm, dry atmosphere is 

 not favorable to their growth, but they need light and air — not so much the direct 

 rays of the sun as roses and geraniums — but if kept in too dark a situation they 

 will loose their leaves and drop their buds. 



Good rich soil is needed for luxuriant growth, and well rotted turf mixed with 

 peat, is quite to their taste ; the dark soil from the forests, composed in a great 

 degree of leaf mould, with a little sand added to it, will make them grow luxu- 

 riously. A Seratifolia and a Speciosa\\?t,VQ grown thiee feet high in one winter 

 in such a soil, and they were covered with a wealth of buds and flowers. Their 

 growth was magnificent ! The above named are winter flowering varieties, and 

 will bloom in window gardens from nine to ten months in the year. 



The Fuchsia is a gross feeder, and requires a good deal of room for its roots 

 when it is growing rapidly. It can be planted in small pots, and as the branches 

 increase, watch the roots and do not let the plants become root bound. 



Two years old plants will bloom profusely — often having hundreds of flowers 

 upon them — but they must have liquid manure once a week to be grown in per- 

 fection. 



When raised from cuttings, they strike quickly in damp sand, and should be 

 transplanted into rich soil, in three inch pots. In two weeks tie the main branch 

 to a small stick and train the plant into a symmetrical shape. When the branches 

 are two or three inches long pinch out their tips, and two or three branches will 

 start from each one. 



A really beautiful plant of handsome shape is obtained only by care. The 

 accompanying illustration. Fig. 72, is a specimen out of thirty others grown from 

 a small cutting in twelve months. The cutting selected should be strong, healthy 

 and woody, with no less than three or four joints ; each leaf should be pulled off", 

 and then set the cutting two or three inches in the soil, and about one inch out. 

 The proper temperature is 55° to 65° ; atmosphere moderately moist ; use rain- 

 water of same temperature as the atmosphere. 



Many persons prefer to have young plants every year or two, and let the old 

 ones die away. But the old plants can be judiciously managed, and make very 

 pretty plants for years to come. Set them in the cellar until late in January; 

 let them lose every leaf; then take up, and cut back severely. If you want a 

 pyramidal shape cut back all the branches, and some of the top also. 



If you like an umbrella shaped plant, choose the drooping kinds, and cut off 

 the lower branches close to the main stem, within two or three feet of the pot ; 

 then cut the branches next higher up, to within a few inches of the stem, and 



