THE GESNERACEOUS HOUSE. 129 
and save the seed yourself. Then perhaps there is a 
better chance of getting more good seedlings from such 
seed than there is from the seed generally sold. After 
the plants have spent themselves in flowering allow 
the bulbs to dry off gradually till they are quite dry; 
then keep them so till the early spring, when they 
may be subjected to a brisk heat, and when signs of 
growth appear, give them some water carefully, and as 
soon as an inch of growth is made (if they are in the 
pots in which they flowered last season), shake them 
out and the old soil from the roots also, and re-pot 
them. In the case of the real Gesneras the same 
treatment recommended for the Achimenes may be 
adopted ; that is, dry them off thoroughly after flower- 
ing, leaving them in the pots, and keeping the bulbs 
in a dry and warm place such as the back shelves of a 
plant-stove where no drip can fall upon the roots. 
This may be done either in the early or late spring, for 
these may be started at all seasons from December till 
May according to the time when they are required to 
flower. 
In the case of the Gesneras, Achimenes, Plectopo- 
mas, &c., the dry roots may be shaken out of the soil, 
moss, &c. in which they have flowered the last season 
and in which they have been kept during the months 
of dormancy. The roots should then be planted in fine 
sifted half-dry leaf-mould one part, maiden loam one 
part, good peat one part, and silver sand one part, well 
mixed together. Place the roots thickly in this soil in 
deep seed-pans and cover them with from one and a 
half to two inches of the same light soil; one inch will 
do for the Achimenes. Set the pans on bottom heat, 
give no water till they have made an inch of growth, 
K 
