180 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



Avant to produce flower-spikes towards the 

 end of summer, and if flowers are needed 

 they may be allowed to bloom ; but if the 

 object is to get the plants as strong as pos- 

 sible the second year, it is well to pinch 

 them out. If, before the autumn is too far 

 advanced, any seem to be short of room, 

 give them pots an inch or two larger, and 

 encourage them to root into the new soil 

 before winter, during which season they 

 will do anywhere out of the reach of frost ; 

 keep them a little drier at the roots through 

 the dormant time. In the spring those 

 that were not potted in the autumn must 

 be shifted, the size of the pots being regu- 

 lated by the strength of the plants. This 

 season they may be expected to bloom well. 

 At the time the flower-spikes are about to 

 make their appearance they are much 

 strengthened by weak manure-water once 

 a week. 



F. appenclicnlata. Bears reddish-crimson 

 flowers, and makes an effective pot plant. 



F. ramosa. This is the best known, and 

 may be looked upon as the handsomest 

 and most useful kind ; its pretty white 

 flowers stand conspicuous among anything 

 else with which they are associated. 



Insects. — For aphides, which are some- 

 times troublesome on these plants, fumi- 

 gate. 



FUCHSIA. 



The combination of good properties 

 which the family of Fuchsias possess is 

 so well known that it is needless to say 

 anything here in their favour. Much has 

 been done in raising seedling varieties, by 

 which the size and colour of the flowers, 

 and the general habit of the plants, have 

 been greatly improved. 



They are among the easiest of greenhouse 

 plants to propagate, and their after growth 

 is no more difficult. Cuttings will strike 

 at any time of the year when soft shoots 

 that have not formed flowers can be had. 

 The principal thing to be kept in view is 

 the necessity for getting the plants well on 

 in size early in spring, as the natural dis- 

 position to bloom when the summer season 

 approaches is such that they make much 

 less progress afterwards. To obtain mode- 

 rate-sized examples that will come into 

 flower as the spring gets advanced, and in 

 siimiaer, the cuttings should be struck in 

 the first months of the year, say at the be- 

 ginning of February ; for this purpose old 

 plants, of the sorts to be increased, should 

 be placed in an intermediate heat at the 

 latter end of December ; here they will 

 break into growth immediately. When 

 the young shoots are 2 or 3 inches long 

 take them off and insert half-a-dozen to- 



gether in 6-inch pots filled with sand ; 

 stand in a temperature of 65*, keep them 

 moist and close, and they will root in a 

 fortnight, after which let them have the 

 full air of the house ; move singly into 

 3-inch pots in good turfy loam, broken fine, 

 to which add some rotten manure, leaf 

 mould, and sand. As soon as they begin 

 to grow stand close to the glass, and keep 

 the night temperature now about 60°, with 

 a little more in the day ; syringe overhead 

 in the afternoons and let the atmosphere 

 be moderately moist. As the sun's power 

 increases give a little shade in the middle 

 of the day, syringing overhead in the after- 

 noons ; the plants will now grow apace. 

 Varieties that do not branch freely should 

 have the points of the leading shoots 

 pinched out, but many of the sorts now 

 grown will make side-growths sufiicient 

 without stopping. When the roots get 

 well hold of the new soil move into pots 4 

 or 5 inches larger, and let the soil now be 

 more lumpy, but well enriched, and make 

 it firm in the pots. Treat as before in the 

 matter of moisture, admitting more air as 

 the spring advances, and continuing to 

 shade when necessary. Each plant should 

 now have a stick for support ; if the object 

 is to grow all or any part of the stock 

 larger, they must again be moved, this 

 time into pots from 10 to 12 inches in 

 diameter ; stop the points of all the shoots, 

 including the leader, and continue to treat 

 generally as before. Plants so managed 

 may be expected to flower profusely in 

 July, and through the following months ; 

 such as were let to bloom in the second 

 pots they were moved to from the cutting 

 state will bloom in May. In all cases 

 their flowering may be prolonged by the 

 use of manure-water, given in a weak state, 

 if too strong it will cause the flower-buds 

 to fall off. Where very large specimens 

 are required it is best to strike the cuttings 

 about August, to keep them growing slowly 

 through the winter, and to pot on as 

 advised for the winter-struck stock. 



Old plants with the branches cut back 

 freely early in spring, put in a little 

 warmth, and just as they have broken 

 shaken out of the old soil and repotted in 

 new, treated afterwards as recommended 

 for the younger stock, will make large 

 specimens that will bloom well. In this 

 way they can be made to do duty for 

 several years, biit young plants are better 

 furnished, and have a nicer appearance. 



The undermentioned is a good selec- 

 tion : — 



SINGLE DARK VARIETIEa. 



F. Covent Garden Scarlet. 



