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point in this, as in many other cases, 

 consists in overcoming difficulties ; 

 and the pleasure will be great in 

 proportion as these difficulties appear 

 at first sight to be insurmountable. 

 Fu'CHSiA. — Onagracece. — The 

 Fuchsias being all natives of South 

 America, have till lately been gene- 

 rally treated as greenhou se plants, but 

 the greater number are now consi- 

 dered to be among the more orna- 

 mental of our hardy exotics. They 

 grow freely in the open air, and en- 

 liven our flower gardens during the 

 whole of the summer with their 

 beautiful crimson flowers ; and 

 though they die down to the ground 

 in winter, they spring up from the 

 root the following May, and during 

 summer flower profusely. They 

 grow freely in a mixture of vegetable 

 earth, or peat, sandy loam, and a 

 little well-rotted dung, which must 

 be kept moist, but by no means 

 sodden. All the species strike freely 

 from cuttings of the young wood, 

 ■ndthout bottom-heat or a bell-glass ; 

 but they will do better with these 

 assistants ; and if planted round the 

 edges of pots, in a rather more sandy 

 soil than the mother plants have been 

 grown in, and plunged into a slight 

 hotbed and shaded, they will be fit 

 to pot off in about a month or six 

 vv'eeks. Seeds are frequently ripen ed, 

 and many very beautiful varieties 

 and hybrids have been raised in this 

 country. One of the finest of these 

 hybrids is F. Standuhii, raised 

 between F. (jlobosa and F. fulgens, 

 and figured in the "Botanical Regis- 

 ter" for 1840. Seeds vegetate freely 

 if sown as soon as they are ripened 

 in a rather sandy soil, on a little 

 heat ; and unlike most other peren- 

 nial plants, they will, if grown 

 strongly, flower the first year. F. 

 Ckandlerii is a splendid kind, and 

 was raised by Mr. Chandler of Vaux- 

 hall, from seed of F. fulgens. The 



following kinds are the best for 

 growing in the open air, F. globosa, 

 F. discolor, F. virgdta, F. micro- 

 i pliy^la with small flowers, and F. 

 I gracilis ; which last, though natu- 

 ' rally a handsome shrub, about four 

 j feet high, may be trained to a single 

 stem so as to form a small tree, in 

 the following manner : — The first 

 point is 'to select a healthy young 

 plant that has a strong leader, and, 

 taking it into a [forcing-house, to 

 remove its lateral branches and 

 leaves to about half its height. The 

 plant must then be kept constantly 

 growing for two yea,rs, till it has 

 attained the required height ; during 

 which period it must be frequently 

 shifted into larger and larger pots, 

 the lateral shoots and leaves being 

 taken off as fast as they appear. 

 When the plant has acquired the 

 height of eight or ten feet, it may be 

 suffered to have a little rest ; that is 

 it may be taken out of the hothouse 

 and placed in a greenhouse, when it 

 will lose its leaves, and cease grow- 

 ing ; for it must be observed, that 

 wliile kept constantly growing by 

 heat and moisture in the hothouse, 

 it will retain its leaves during 

 winter, contrary to the usual habits 

 of the genus. The following spring, 

 when the plant begins to grow, the 

 top should be pinched off, when it 

 will, in the course of a few months, 

 I produce a beautiful head, covered 

 I with flowers ; and in this state, if 

 I set in the centre of a bed of Fuchsias 

 on a lawn, or in a flower-garden, it 

 ! will have a very pleasing effect. F. 

 t fulgens is a tuberous-i'ooted specie.?, 

 ' with herbaceous stems, which natu- 

 rally die off after the plant has pro- 

 duced its seeds. When this is the 

 case, the root requires to be kept 

 quiet till the following spring, when 

 it may be brought forward by putting 

 it into a hothouse, or plunging it 

 into a hotbed. Young cuttings of 



